BJP chief Amit Shah addressing a press conference in Patna (Press Trust of India photo)
Amid reports that the BJP's alliance is struggling after two phases of polling in the crucial Bihar assembly election, BJP chief Amit Shah today asserted that his party was in pole position, but saw the need to emphasise that his party is "committed" to reservation.
"I want to clarify that the BJP totally supports reservation. We are committed to it. The central point of Narendra Modi's development agenda is to take all backward people with us," said Mr Shah in Patna.
He accused the BJP's chief opponents, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his partner Lalu Yadav, of attempting to turn this year's election into a "backward castes vs upper castes" battle and pointed out, "it is the BJP that has made a poor man's son the Prime Minister".
The Bharatiya Janata Party was put on the back foot in Bihar when Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat recently suggested that the country's reservation policy needs a review.
The RSS is the BJP's ideological mentor and the Nitish-Lalu team has since attacked the BJP, alleging that it plans to do away with reservation.
In Bihar, other backward castes (OBCs) and extreme backward castes (EBCs), who benefit from affirmative action, constitute around 50 per cent of the voters. The BJP has attempted to supplement its traditional upper caste vote by partnering with three regional parties that have support among the backward castes.
Reports of a below par performance by the BJP in the first two phases of the bitterly fought election were acknowledged by party lawmaker Shatrughan Sinha, who tweeted yesterday, "News that my party cud've done better in the 1st 2 phases upsets me. Hope it's untrue.Wishing BJP candidates all the best for the next phase."
Amit Shah dismissed such reports saying the BJP's alliance would win 32-34 of the 49 seats in the first phase and 24 of the 32 seats in the second phase.
Polling for the third phase in the five-phase election will be held on October 28, after a 12-day gap for Durga puja and Dussehra.