Seeking to shake off the labelling by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) as a party of Muslims and Yadavs alone, the party’s top leader Tejashwi Yadav asserted that the RJD stands for the “A to Z” castes and communities.
As a counter, he has offered an umbrella combination that is aimed at taking along both the backward and forward castes, women, and the poor.
“Some people say that we are only a MY party, a party of Muslims and Yadav. But we are also a BAAP — party where B stands for Bahujan, A for ‘agda’ (upper caste), A for ‘aadhi aabadi’ (women, half the population), and P for the poor,” he claimed, as he spoke at length on the various achievements in the 17 months during which the RJD was in power, including providing employment to five lakh persons.
“In this very Gandhi Maidan [in Patna], we distributed employment letters. When I first proposed 10 lakh jobs, Nitish Kumar asked, where will the money come from? In 17 months, I proved him wrong,” he thundered, as the crowd roared in response.
Offering an alternative full form for the RJD, Mr. Yadav said it also expands as “Rights, Jobs, and Development”.
Party insiders claim that this remaking of the RJD as a pro-development party, countering the spectre of ‘jungle raj’ that is raised in connection with it, is not an overnight effort. “In the 2020 Assembly elections, Tejashwi-ji had similarly given the slogan of kamai (employment), dawai (medical facilities), padhai (education), sichai (irrigation) and mehengai (price rise),” a senior party leader pointed out.
In 2020, despite the party’s best efforts, while it within striking distance, it fell short thanks to a counter consolidation against the Yadav euphoria. The “A to Z” pitch is the RJD’s promise to the voters that no one will be excluded, the senior RJD leader explained.
The MY-only tag that the RJD is assiduously trying to avoid will not fade away so easily, political scientist and fellow at the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR) Rahul Verma said. “RJD did not begin as an MY party. It used to attract the larger Bahujan electorate, winning the votes of Backward Classes, not just Yadavs, but also a section of Dalits. But over time, it has been reduced as such because the votes of the Backward Classes have further fragmented,” Dr. Verma said.
And on the other side of balance is the BJP, which draws votes from multiple segments, barring the Muslims. “While, directionally it is the right move, to expand beyond the confines of ‘MY’, but the turnaround is not going to be easy, and one that is not without the risk of a possible backlash from the core voters,” Dr. Verma said.
