‘Lalu gave reservation only to Rabri, Modi fulfilled Sonia’s dream’ — Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary

10/05/2024

New Delhi: While Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad Yadav “gave reservation only to his wife Rabri Devi,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi even “fulfilled the dream” of his Congress opponent Sonia Gandhi with the women’s quota law, according to Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and BJP state president Samrat Choudhary in an exclusive interview with ThePrint in Patna.

Choudhary also didn’t hold back in his sarcasm about Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav, former deputy CM and the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, who has been attacking the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on issues of inflation and unemployment.

“Tejashwi Yadav is not aware of his father’s deeds. He is a bachcha (child),” Choudhary said. “If Bihar is underdeveloped today, it’s because of Lalu Prasad Yadav. People of the state gave him 15 years to rule, but he did not work for their welfare. Instead, he promoted goonda raj, seized land, ate fodder, drank coal tar. He only promoted his family in politics, but a democracy runs on principles and lok lihaz (moral values).”

However, with the BJP re-establishing its alliance with the state’s ruling Janata Dal (United), Choudhary was full of praise for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s “big contributions”— a U-turn from his previous vocal criticism.

In the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, the opposition INDIA bloc has the RJD contesting 26 of the state’s 40 seats, while the Congress and Left are fielding candidates in 9 and 5 seats respectively. From the NDA, BJP is fighting 17 seats and JD(U) 16, with other regional allies contesting from the remainder.

“The people of Bihar cannot vote for Lalu as they know his past track record of jungle raj,” said Choudhary.

In the middle of a day packed with five rallies and a BJP strategy meeting, the deputy CM also spoke about the renewed BJP-JD(U) alliance, their Lok Sabha campaign in Bihar, and the state’s caste survey, previously a bone of contention between the parties.

‘Modi fulfilled Rajiv & Sonia’s dream’

Samrat Choudhary was dismissive about Lalu’s claims that the BJP aimed to “erase” the Constitution and the reservations it provides for if voted into power.

“During Lalu’s 15 years, how many people got reservations? He only gave reservations to his wife Rabri Devi who ruled after him,” Choudhary said. “He should talk about the welfare of people, not the welfare of his family.”

In contrast, he claimed, Narendra Modi was the first Prime Minister to ask for votes on development rather than “appeasement”, even as he sought to uplift all quarters of society, including women.

“Before Modi, empowering the wife was branded women’s empowerment. Modi changed it to empowerment of common women. Modi has fulfilled Rajiv Gandhi’s dream of women empowerment and also fulfilled Sonia Gandhi’s dream by bringing the Nari Shakti law,” he said, referring to the Women’s Reservation Act 2023 to provide one-third reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

“Modi has provided food, electricity, and toilets to the poor. Through the Garib Kalyan scheme, he has provided ration to the poor and directly transferred money to farmers. He launched Startup India for youth. Today, India is one of the fastest developing nations,” he proclaimed.

According to Choudhary, the BJP is fighting the Bihar election only on Modi’s development agenda.

“The BJP is solely fighting this election on the plank of Modi’s work. Prime Minister Modi has fulfilled all his commitments, whether it’s the Ram temple or Article 370. Now the commitment to the Uniform Civil Code has been given, which will also be fulfilled,” he said.

Through all of this, Modi is the “poorest” PM that India has ever had and would remain so, Choudhary added.

“He is a fakir, the son of a poor man, he has no pocket for corruption,” the BJP leader said. In our country, whoever becomes a politician becomes involved in corruption, but the Modi government wants to develop the country. Sometimes, we party men feel uneasy about his tough decisions, but he doesn’t listen to anyone when it comes to the interest of the country.”

‘Nobody has done as much as Nitish’

Nitish Kumar is Bihar’s longest-serving CM, but there are indications that his popularity is declining and that he’s banking on the BJP to improve his prospects in the state.

However, Choudhary said that there was no such issue and that the JD(U) and BJP were making a joint effort to win the election on Modi’s name.

“This election is about Modi. The Lok Sabha elections are about selecting the Prime Minister. Nitish Kumar is campaigning as an alliance partner of Modi,” he said.

Choudhary—who once described Nitish as being “remote-controlled by Super CM Tejashwi” during the previous JD(U)-RJD government—also spoke in glowing terms about the Bihar Chief Minister.

“As far as Nitish Kumar is concerned, he is a big leader of Bihar,” Choudhary said. “After Shri Krishna Singh the first CM of Bihar), he is the first leader who has done something for Bihar. His contributions are big, and nobody else has done as much for Bihar in the past.”

The Deputy CM added that under Nitish, organised crime had been brought in check in Bihar.

“Nitish ji has put an end to organised crime, which was rampant during the RJD rule. We have introduced laws to identify and prosecute those involved in organised crime. Once the election is over, stricter laws will be implemented to trace criminals,” he said.

‘A natural alliance’

While the BJP, including PM Modi, were initially critical of the Bihar government’s caste survey last year, describing it as an attempt to divide the country, the party has recalibrated its stance. However, Choudhary went a step further and credited the BJP for the survey too.

“The BJP has never opposed the caste survey. In Bihar, we supported the Nitish Kumar government. Sixteen of our ministers were part of Nitish’s government, which supported the caste survey. The RJD was not part of that government; they supported it as an opposition party. What was the role of Lalu and Tejashwi then? It was the BJP-JDU government that conducted the caste survey in Bihar,” he claimed.

The previous BJP and JD(U) alliance in Bihar broke in 2022 until they joined hands again in January. However, there are some ideological differences between them, with the JD(U) keeping away from communal rhetoric. In contrast, the PM has alleged at rallies that the Congress would redistribute Hindus’ wealth and even mangalsutras to Muslims.

But Choudhary insisted that the parties were in alignment on the matter of Muslims.

“Whether it’s Nitish Kumar or the Modi government, both are working for the welfare of minorities. The only difference is their stance on appeasement for any community. The country has the first claim on resources; no caste or community has the first claim. This is the only difference. Modi only raises the question: How can one community have the first claim on resources?” he said.

Amid Tejashwi’s growing popularity in the state, Choudhary argued that JD(U) voters would never switch to the RJD even in the 2025 Bihar assembly elections.

“JD(U) voters cannot go with RJD—you can write that down. Lalu’s reign of lawlessness has made people’s lives miserable. Today, RJD has so many goons in the party that JD(U) voters cannot support RJD,” he said. “The BJP-JD(U) alliance is a natural one, and our alliance will continue to work even until 2025.”

‘Even Tejashwi’s sister can slap him’

Despite Lalu’s checkered past, the rise of a new generation has improved the RJD’s image. In the 2020 elections, it emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats in the 243-member assembly, with Tejashwi receiving much of the credit.

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