DM triggers row with vote-for-caste appeal

Patna: A Bihar IAS officer posted as district magistrate has touched off a controversy after a video clip went on air purportedly showing him exhorting people to vote only for fellow caste men or women in elections to increase their representation in elected bodies. Raj Kumar, an officer of the 2010 batch, allegedly made these remarks at a function held on the premises of the Ganinath temple in Sitamarhi district on Saturday. The officer is posted as district magistrate of neighbouring Sheohar. In his inaugural address at the function, the young IAS officer said nothing was above caste. During his speech, lasting 7 minutes and 49 seconds, Raj Kumar is heard appealing to members of an extremely backward group to vote only for candidates of their own caste in elections. "Even if he/she is your enemy, bury it and vote for him/her only in the elections, be it the state Assembly or other elections," Raj Kumar is heard saying in the video, whose veracity The Telegraph has not been able to independently establish. Kumar, who hails from Saran district's Revelgang area, received wide applause from the people when he asked them to strengthen their representation in the state's political set-up. "Of the 243 legislators, there are only three legislators of your community. Increase your representation at all levels and actively participate in elections right from panchayat level to the state legislature," the Sheohar DM is heard telling the gathering. When contacted, Kumar said he had attended the function in his personal capacity and not as the district magistrate or an IAS officer. "Since there is no temple of our community in Sheohar district, I decided to go to Sitamarhi to offer my obeisance to our god. My father also accompanied me," he told The Telegraph over phone on Monday. Kumar, however, hastened to add that the statements attributed to him had been taken out of context. But Kumar's caste push is unlikely to go down well with the ruling dispensation. Last week, Janata Dal United leader Sharad Yadav had said the caste system in India was the "real hell" that was holding back progress, bringing up the imaginary netherworld again after defence minister Manohar Parrikar had used the word to describe Pakistan. "Caste system in India is the real hell. We need to leave it behind to become a modern and developed society," Sharad had told a seminar at JNU, Delhi. IAS Officers' Association state president Amita Paul expressed surprise over Kumar's decision to take part in such a function. "I can't make any official comment unless and until I have a talk with him (Kumar)," she told The Telegraph. The Telegraph, Calcutta