Politics hots up to woo Mahadalits
Faizan Ahmad, TNN, 11 January 2010, 01:21am IST
PATNA: A Maha struggle has been triggered off over the issue of
Mahadalit, the definition coined by the state NDA government
identifying the neglected sections among Dalit society, in this
election year.
After wooing the extremely backward castes, who largely supported the
NDA in the last Lok Sabha elections, chief minister Nitish Kumar has
turned his attention on the marginalized sections of Scheduled Castes
(SCs). As the state Assembly elections are due in November, he is
making moves to mobilize their support and a slew of schemes have been
initiated to woo them.
To unite the Mahadalit society, a massive rally has been planned for
February 21 at the Gandhi Maidan here. Under the banner of Mahadalit
Ekjutata Morcha, the rally aims to show the Opposition parties,
particularly the Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP, the SCs' support which the
NDA enjoys.
Chief organizer of the rally and Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan
Choudhary, however, asserted that the proposed rally had nothing to do
with politics. "Our motto is to awaken the society and educate them
about the various welfare schemes meant exclusively for them,"
Choudhary told TOI on Saturday.
"The morcha is an apolitical forum," he claimed. However, the newly
formed body is heavily dominated by Mahadalit leaders of JD(U) and BJP
and the organization close to these parties are associated with it.
As many as six groups have been formed to tour the state extensively
to mobilize support for the rally. These groups are headed by JD(U)
leaders Choudhary, Jeetan Ram Manjhi, Ramai Ram, Shyam Rajak, Bhudev
Choudhary and Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhaskar. The members of State
Mahadalit Commission are also extending their active support to it.
It has been debated in political circles that the Nitish government
hastily decided to hold Mahadalit rally in reaction to the LJP's rally
which was earlier slated for February 15. However, Paswan has
postponed the date to March 18.
Paswan has a major stake in Dalit politics. But Nitish's move has
worried him no end. He is bitterly opposing the term Mahadalit calling
it a slur. "This is a brazen attempt to split the Dalit society by
dividing them into groups," Paswan said.
Nitish claimed he is trying to bring the sections among Dalit society,
who have been traditionally neglected, to the mainstream. "My aim is
to see the social, economic and political growth of certain castes who
need a special campaign for their overall development," the CM said.
Choudhary said the Morcha had no competition with any one and it was
not concerned who was holding the rally.
LJP spokesman Lalan Kumar Chandravanshi said the LJP rally would now
coincide with the day when Jayaprakash Narayan had given the call for
Sampoorn Kranti.
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