PM Modi's "Fodder" Swipe At Lalu Yadav, His "Not Bigger OBC Than Me" Reply

Patna:

Launching a scathing attack on Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said an INDIA ally is talking about providing "full reservation" to Muslims and depriving people of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the OBC community.

The Prime Minister, who was addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar, referred to Mr Prasad as a leader "who ate fodder meant for animals" -- a swipe at the RJD leader's conviction in a fodder scam case. "The Congress is silent, but one of its allies confirmed the intentions of the INDI alliance today. One of their leaders, who was jailed in fodder scam (case) and was punished by the court. See his shamelessness. He is out on bail on health grounds. In your village, if someone does jail time, people stay away. The Congress has stooped so low that it is dancing with such people," he said.

"He (Prasad) is saying Muslims should get reservation, and not just reservation, he says Muslims should get full reservation. What does this mean? This means they want to snatch away reservation from SC, ST and OBC communities and give it to Muslims," he added.

The Prime Minister's remarks are a part of the BJP's big charge at the Congress, accusing the main Opposition party of planning to snatch reservation benefits from backward communities and give them to the Muslims. The Congress has denied any such plan and accused the ruling party of trying to create distraction in the election season.

Adding to the row, Mr Prasad yesterday said he was in favour of extending reservation benefits to Muslims. He also alleged that the BJP wants to do away with reservations. "The BJP is against the provision of reservations made in the Constitution. Hence, it wants to do away with both," he said yesterday.

On the BJP's charge that if voted to power, the Congress, RJD and other allies would "steal" reservations meant for OBCs and divert them to Muslims, the ailing leader said, "Muslims should get reservation, pura."

The BJP responded that Mr Prasad's statement was "very serious". "Lalu Prasad Yadav said that full reservation should be provided to Muslims. This word, 'pura ka pura' (full) used by him in his statement is very serious. This makes it clear that they (INDIA) want to provide reservation to Muslims from the share of SCs, STs and OBCs," BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told the media.

Amid the BJP's charge, Mr Prasad issued a fresh statement today, stressing that the basis of reservation is not religion but social backwardness. "The Prime Minister does not understand this. We implemented the Mandal Commission recommendations. Has Narendra Modi ever read them? Mandal Commission recommendations provide reservation to more than 3,500 backward castes, including may from other religions."

Referring to the BJP, he said, "They are not a bigger and truer OBC than me, right? They do not understand the poor, the backward and Dalits more than me. They only make them fight." The RJD patriarch alleged a long-time conspiracy by RSS and the BJP to finish reservation and the Constitution. "In 2000, the NDA government had even set up a Constitution review commission. They do not follow the Constitution. If they did, they would not use divisive language to spread hate," he said.