Janata Dal (United) leader, Bashishtha Narain Singh has said that social justice will be the focus of their campaign in Bihar elections.
While Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief, Lalu Prasad has been booked for alleged casteist remarks, alliance partner, Janata Dal (United) or the JD(U) tried to shift the focus of the grand alliance's campaign to inclusive development and social justice in the Bihar assembly election.
"Caste is a reality. There are backward castes and there are forward castes. But I do not accept that caste is everything. Development is a much bigger issue. We want to go to the people on the basis of the work that we had done in Bihar," Bihar JD(U) President Bashishtha Narain Singh told reporters.
Earlier on Sunday, Mr Prasad had said, "You Yaduvanshis (Yadav castemen), backwards and minorities must unite and rally behind us to keep the BJP-led NDA at bay and ensure that the secular alliance comes to power in Bihar." He had appealed to other backward castes to rally behind their alliance of RJD, JD(U) and Congress to defeat BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
But the JDU has tried to downplay the issue, Mr Singh said, "Different parties come together during elections. Some of them have a caste base. But elections in Bihar will happen on the issue of development. Development is much more important than caste in Bihar. I am convinced that those who talk other things will also have to take up the issue of development."
The remarks by the JD(U) reflects a realisation in the party that too much focus on caste issues can damage the alliance's prospects. Many in party believe that the state has gone ahead of the era of caste politics and it has limited appeal among the youngsters though the plank of social justice cannot be abandoned keeping in mind the social realities in the state.