Decide If You Are With BJP Or Against It: Tejashwi Yadav Calls For Opposition Unity

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday asked opposition parties to set aside personal egos to join hands in fighting the BJP and said they have to decide if they are with the ruling party or against it, as he and his father Lalu Prasad launched a stinging attack on the Modi government.

The party's open convention in the packed Talkatora Stadium here also saw the hold of Tejashwi Yadav over the organisation getting further cemented as it passed a resolution effecting a change in the RJD constitution to vest final decision-making authority on its "name, poll symbol or any other issue" in him as well as his father.

While Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad accused the BJP of "communalising" society and "destroying" the Constitution, Tejashwi Yadav referred to ruling party Member of Parliament (MP) Parvesh Verma's speech allegedly calling for a boycott of Muslims and said a huge number of Indians working abroad, many in Muslim countries, will be left unemployed if they face similar treatment.

"What kind of mindset is this? Somebody tell these BJP members that most of our oil comes from Muslim countries. Will you stop it," he asked.

Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Verma courted controversy on Sunday after he allegedly called for a total boycott of a community at an event held here to protest the killing of a Hindu youth in northeast Delhi. He has claimed that he did not name any community.

In his speech at the RJD's open convention, which ratified Lalu Prasad's election as its president again, Tejashwi Yadav continued with his efforts to shed its image of an organisation confined largely to a Muslim-Yadav base as he asked the packed crowd of delegates to "bend" if needed to embrace "small" castes, be it most backward communities or Dalits.

"Maintain discipline, this is my appeal to you. You have to protect the last person in the queue. There is a need to change behaviour. There can be no disharmony, jealousy or discrimination. We will take everyone along," he said.

The RJD's rivals have often linked the party's rule to poor law and order situation and allege that its supporters try to dominate other castes when it is in power.

"The RJD is a party of A to Z. It is a party of everyone," Tejashwi Yadav asserted "People of so many communities were with us in the 90s," he recalled, claiming that the RJD got wide support from across the society in the 2020 Bihar assembly polls.

Lalu Prasad as well as his political heir Tejashwi Yadav also asked party members to keep the larger goal in mind and not fall prey to any confusion or conspiracy.

The comments come as RJD's Bihar unit president Jadanand Singh has been sulking over the ouster of his son Sudhakar Singh from the Bihar Cabinet while Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav has often publicly embarrassed the party with his comments.

Both Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav also met Shyam Rajak, a senior RJD functionary who had turned emotional on Sunday and later fell ill after being accused by Tej Pratap Yadav of abusing him.

Lashing out at the BJP, Tejashwi Yadav referred to it as "Badka Jhoota Party" (a big liar party), while Lalu Prasad, in his brief speech, slammed it as "Bharat Jalao Party" (burn India party).

The BJP is resorting to Hindu-Muslim issues to trigger conflict in society as part of its "divide and rule" strategy, Tejashwi Yadav alleged.

He accused the BJP of dividing the society on communal lines to divert people's attention from real issues like unemployment, price rise, education and health.

In a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said while the BJP leader was the first one in 75 years to rise from a tea shop to the highest executive office, in his eight years of his rule those with engineering and MBA degrees were forced to work at tea shops as the economy has been "devastated".

When a dollar was equivalent to Rs 50 and Rs 60, Modi used to see "conspiracy" behind it, but the Indian currency is now at a low of Rs 82 for a dollar and he has nothing to say today, the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister alleged.

The country is being destroyed and the constitution of the RSS is being imposed, he alleged.

Calling for unity among non-BJP parties, he said all opposition parties and leaders have to set aside their egos and personal interests to fight the ruling party.

He claimed that a united opposition can oust the BJP from power at the Centre.

While the BJP has been working to topple opposition parties-run governments in different states, Bihar has sent out a message by ejecting it out of power with JD(U) leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joining hands with his arch-rival Prasad.

"It is our attempt to bring on one platform all parties which want to remove the BJP from power at the Centre. If this can be done in Bihar, it can be done nationally too," he said.

Asking opposition parties to keep the larger goal of defeating the BJP in mind, he said it will be foolish for regional parties to fight among themselves.

One has to think if their actions benefit or damage the BJP, he said.

Echoing a Trinamool Congress slogan in the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls, he said his party will fight and win against the BJP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)