File photo: RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav
Attacking saffron party over Mohan Bhagwat's remark, RJD chief Lalu Prasad said the RSS chief's call for a review of the reservation policy has "sealed" the fate of the BJP. He claimed that Janata Dal will emerge triumphant in "Mandal versus Kamandal" politics, as in 1995 Bihar polls.
Under vicious attack from BJP for his "Hindus also eat beef remarks", he said he is a true "gopalak" (one who rears cows) and that his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi "washes the 'feet' of every new cow that comes home".
Surrounded by his supporters and sipping his favourite 'nimbu chai' after a string of election meetings, Lalu shows a book by M S Golwalkar, the second Sarsanghchalak of the RSS-- "Bunch of Thoughts".
"Golwalkar had said that reservation should be provided on economic basis. The present leadership of RSS is following the thought of its guru (Golwalkar). Dalits and Backwards got reservation after decades of struggle and they want to snatch it now," he told PTI in an interview.
Claiming that there is a "pattern" behind Mr Bhagwat's remarks, he said: "That is their original thought process. Their psyche is against SC/ST and OBC... And we galvanized the SC/ST and OBC against them, telling the weaker sections what the BJP is up to."
"The grand alliance spread the word to every nook and corner of the state and this has led to a polarisation of the deprived classes against the NDA and that sealed its fate," Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav said.
The RJD chief also attacked Modi for his views on caste system.
"Modi had written in a book 'Karmyog' that Dalits do manual scavenging for spiritual delight. Why not people from RSS, including Bhagwat, take up this experience of spiritual delight. He is the Prime Minister of the country and he had written that. This is the thought process that wants the Dalits and OBCs to continue to suffer humiliation," he alleged.