Oppn successfully convinced people on quota, minority safety

Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today said the opposition parties in Bihar were successful in convincing people that reservation will go and minorities won't be safe if NDA came to power as he sought to decode the NDA debacle in the high-stake poll.
Besides the two controversial issues, the decision of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to shift a number of castes from Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and from EBCs to SCs/STs also led to consolidation of votes in favour of the grand alliance, the LJP chief said addressing his first press conference here after the Bihar drubbing.

Replying to a question about Bhagwat's remarks on quota review, Paswan said,"I do not think that this was the only issue. But this is true that the grand alliance leaders were to a larger extent successful in misleading people with the help of that statement. That became a major issue. They were able to convince people that if NDA comes to power,reservation will be done away with.
"We were not successful in convincing the voters from SCs and OBCs that it is not so, though all of us including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah clearly said that there was no plan to undo reservation system."

At the same time, he hastened to add that he was not in a position to say in what context, Bhagwat made the remarks or whether he was saying this in response to Hardik Patel's stir for reservation for Patels in Gujarat.
Besides, he also reflected the discomfiture in NDA over lynching in Dadri on beef issue and subsequent row surrounding it.

"The incident of Dadri was a law and order problem and the blame for it should have gone Samajwadi Party, which rules Uttar Pradesh. It should have been treated as an issue concerning Mulayam Singh Yadav. Latching on to this incident, the opposition was also successful in convincing minorities in Bihar that they will not be safe if NDA came to power," Paswan said.

The Union Minister, however, stoutly defended the role of the Prime Minister and BJP chief Amit Shah. He hailed Modi for the gathering in his rallies and his campaign and the strategy of Shah, asserting that defeat in any election is a collective responsibility.
Paswan also claimed the grand alliance government led by Nitish Kumar will not complete its full term and dismissed contentions that Bihar polls would have any impact on 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
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Explaining the reasons of NDA's defeat, Paswan said that sometime before the announcement of Bihar polls, Nitish Kumar government shifted 20-odd castes from different categories into EBCs, Dalits and Mahadalits that benefitted the grand alliance, even as their inclusion in those categories will take time and the Centre's nod.

Kumar's Cabinet had given its nod to inclusion of two of the numerically strongest Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs), Nishad (Mallah) and Nonia, in the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe category. The two castes are most populous among the 130-odd EBCs and accounts for about 30 per cent of the state's population.
Paswan also reiterated the BJP's stand that contrary to the NDA's assessment, the vote bases of JDU and RJD shifted to each other almost completely accepting the result was "unexpected".
"No individual can be held responsible for the defeat. BJP, LJP, RLSP, HAM(S) all are responsible. We could not win We saw heavy attendance in the Prime Minister's meetings. Amit Shah virtually camped there and gave a boost to organisational work during the polls.

"All leaders worked with maximum possible coordination," he said, adding that while there was decline in the number of votes got by the NDA, the grand alliance increased its vote count.
Replying to questions about the stability of Nitish Kumar government and its ability to deliver, Paswan said, as far as he was aware of the record of all three parties -- RJD, JDU and Congress -- he was not hopeful that the state would develop under the grand alliance rule.
"The situation will change there within six months. For the next three months, LJP will focus on strengthening its organisation and then it will start attacking the state government on its failures," he said.

Replying to questions on the issue of intolerance, the Union Minister hit back at Congress citing the remarks of party leaders Mani Shankar Aiyar in Pakistani media, and Salman Khurshid for criticising the NDA government for adopting a tough stand towards Pakistan.
"Those who are talking of intolerance, should also think whether the remarks made by them are helping check intolerance or raising the pitch. We are not condoning either. We are saying there should be no statement from either side, which affects brotherhood," Paswan said.
Regarding Bihar versus Bahari (outsider) pitch of Nitish Kumar during Bihar polls, Paswan reminded JDU President Sharad Yadav also hails from Madhya Pradesh.

"Besides, if somebody talks such thing about Congress President Sonia Gandhi, we feel bad."
He also felt that this was not an issue in Bihar. "Bihar is a state with socialist history. Other issues (like quota and Dadri) did make an impact but not this outsider issue," he said.