‘Political kheer’: Kushwaha retracts statement on Yadav-koiri alliance
PATNA: After calling an electoral union between the Yadavs and Koiris in Bihar a “sumptuous political kheer”, a sweet rice pudding, should they come together, Union minister and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief Upendra Kushwaha on Monday said his statement was misconstrued and he only meant that their union would uplift socially deprived classes.
Kushwaha said his statements should not be interpreted with caste politics. “I am neither looking for milk from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) nor sugar from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to prepare any kheer,” he said, as parties associated with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) pulled him up for his statement.
During a function organised on the occasion of the 100th birth anniversary of BP Mandal of the Mandal Commission on Saturday, Kushwaha said, “Yaduvanshi ka doodh aur Kushvanshi ka chawal mil jaye to kheer badhiya hogi (when milk of and the rice of Koiris are mixed, the pudding would be sweeter and tastier).”
Former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM(S)) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, who had recently switched sides from the NDA to the UPA, criticised Kushwaha for his “loose talks” in a politicallyvolatile state. “I think he is eyeing the chief minister’s chair by crossing over to the UPA,” Manjhi said.
Janata Dal United (JD(U)) spokesperson Ashok Kumar Choudhary too condemned the RLSP chief’s caste-laced statement, saying it was time leaders stop using caste for electoral gains.
However, Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad had on Sunday welcomed Kushwaha’s statements, saying the new caste equation would prove beneficial for the socially-deprived classes.
Though Kushwaha retracted his statement, the political heat it has generated in Bihar has put him in the centre of attention, as who he would opt to align with could upset many permutations and combinations in the state ahead of the crucial 2019 parliamentary and assembly elections.
The union minister had hinted at a possible political realignment. “One can prepare kheer with milk from the Yadavs and rice from the Kushwahas. We will get the sugar from Brahmins, tulsi (basil) from Choudharyji (RLSP Bihar chief Bhudev Choudhary), and make delicious kheer with dry fruits acquired from the backward classes and Dalits. Then we can sit together and have some delicious kheer,” he had said on Saturday.