Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday refuted claims of an insult to 'Thakurs' (Brahmins) made by his close associate Manoj Jha in the Rajya Sabha. Defending Jha, who has recently been embroiled in controversy over his speech during the debate on the Women's Reservation Bill, Yadav highlighted the Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) strong connection with the Thakur community compared to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Upon his return from Delhi, Yadav criticised certain BJP MLAs for their statements against Jha, news agency PTI reported.
"We have more Rajputs (the term for Thakurs in Bihar) among our members in both Houses of the state legislature than the BJP. We count among our icons former Prime Minister V.P. Singh. The founding fathers of RJD included the late Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who introduced MREGA during his tenure as a Union Minister. No other party has had such a legacy," he pointed out, as quoted by news agency PTI.
The controversy arose when Jha recited a verse by Dalit writer Om Prakash Valmiki in the Rajya Sabha titled "Thakur Ka Kuan" (the Thakur's well) and said, "We all have a Thakur within ourselves whom we must get rid of." This rhetoric triggered a backlash in caste-conscious Bihar, with some Thakur political leaders alleging that Jha, a Brahmin, had deliberately targeted their community.
The RJD MP and national spokesman had advocated for separate quotas for women from disadvantaged sections of society.
In response, the BJP staged protests earlier this week, burning effigies of Yadav and his father, RJD leader Lalu Prasad. This move unsettled RJD leaders, including young MLA Chetan Anand, who publicly voiced his objections to Jha's speech.
Tejashwi Yadav, who also leads the RJD in the state Assembly, suggested that Anand should have raised his concerns within the party forum instead of on social media. He stated, "I will talk to him."
The Deputy Chief Minister praised Jha as a "scholarly person who teaches at Delhi University and is a recipient of the Best Parliamentarian award." He criticised the BJP for "twisting words out of context," drawing parallels with previous protests against himself during the 2020 assembly polls when he had accused bureaucrats of corruption in Bihar, PTI reported.
In Bihari colloquialism, the term 'babu saheb' is often used to refer to Rajputs.
He also criticised certain BJP MLAs for making statements against Jha that carried implicit threats of physical violence.
Tejashwi Yadav cited the Lok Sabha incident where BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri used offensive language against BSP member Danish Ali, opining that the response had not received the level of outrage it warranted.
The Deputy Chief Minister, also a coordination committee member of the INDIA coalition, expressed his discontent with this perceived discrepancy in treatment.