In Araria, Tejashwi promises Muslims their due share

Reiterating his family bond with Taslimuddin’s, Yadav said, “No power on earth can spoil the cordial relations between our two families. We have never made any compromise against communal forces.”

Bihar’s leader of opposition Tejaswi Yadav said Friday night that if voted to power, his party Rashtriya Janata Dal will give adequate representation to Muslims in the government.

Tejashwi Yadav (HT Photo)

He was speaking at a function organised in the memory of stalwart Muslim leader of Seemanchal, late Md Tasliimuddin, at Araria, around 300 km from Patna.

Taslimuddin, a former union minister and Araria MP, had died in 2017 necessitating a bypoll on March 11 last year. His son, Sarfaraz, had won the bypoll on an RJD ticket.

Yadav, accompanied by two student leaders of JNU, Kanahaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid, also took a dig at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and cautioned the people, especially Muslims, against his trick.

Reiterating his family bond with Taslimuddin’s, Yadav said, “No power on earth can spoil the cordial relations between our two families. We have never made any compromise against communal forces.”

Recalling the controversial statement of senior BJP leader Giriraj Singh, who had said Araria would become a hub of terrorism after Sarafar Alam won the Araria bypoll, Tejashwi Yadav said the BJP then had then tried to spread hatred by circulating a doctored video. “This country is not anybody’s property,” Yadav said.

He appealed to the people to keep him and his family in their prayers so that his ”innocent” father, Lalu Prasad, convicted and sent to jail in fodder scam cases, gets bail.

Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid also spoke on the occasion and highlighted the failures of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in state. Kumar said the state was in the grip of criminals and anti-social elements. “AK-47 rifles are sold like hot cakes here,” he said.

Barari RJD MLA Neeraj Yadav, who is also in-charge of RJD’s Araria district unit, and a strong contender for the Purnia seat, said the meeting was very successful.