Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday said efforts were on to bring all Opposition parties on a single platform for an alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, The Indian Express reported.
“I believe the fight in 2019 will be Mandal, [BR] Ambedkar and Gandhi versus [Nathuram] Godse and [HS] Golwalkar,” Yadav said, according to PTI. “Let us see who has the strength. I think it’s time to ideologically finish the followers of kamandal [Hindutva].”
Yadav was speaking at a session organised by a forum of students and teachers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi. He also announced that the party’s youth wing will contest student union elections in JNU.
Yadav attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government and alleged that the people in the government were “promoting conflict” among religions in the country. He also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark about selling pakodas. “If all people start selling pakodas, who will buy the pakodas?”
“Narendra Modi sold dreams to the youth for becoming the prime minister,” Yadav said. “The reality of his promises are there for everyone to see.”
He said all recommendations of the Mandal Commission should be implemented, claiming that less than 5% had been implemented.
Yadav also said his father, Lalu Prasad Yadav, had fought for social justice without any compromise. “My father challenged the forces of communalism and Manuwadis in power and that is why he has been framed,” he said. “But he has emerged stronger out of this struggle.”
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