"BJP's hatred for Muslims reflected in new ministry": Tejashwi Yadav

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday, 11 June, alleged that Muslims have no representation in the union council of ministers as a consequence of the ruling BJP's "hatred" for the community.

The former Bihar deputy chief minister was also of the view that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was rather late in voicing his concerns over the strife in Manipur, which he said got exacerbated as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chosen to remain "silent".

"It is clearly an indication of hatred... We, on the other hand, believe in taking all sections of society along," said Yadav, in response to queries from journalists about not a single Muslim person getting a berth in the jumbo-sized 72-member union council of ministers Modi had sworn in on Sunday, 9 June.

Asked about Bhagwat's comments on Manipur, the RJD leader said "he has been too late in speaking out", and added that "the prime minister, on his part, has merely kept silent on every crisis, be it violence in that state, or protests by farmers and female wrestlers in Delhi".

The ethnic conflict in Manipur between Imphal valley-based Meiteis and hills-based Kukis has led to the deaths of at least 200 people and rendered thousands of people homeless.

Yadav also said that despite having a "decisive role" in the new central government helmed by the BJP (which is short of a majority and had to rely on NDA allies JD(U) and TDP to form an NDA government), Bihar did not get a square deal in the allocation of portfolios.

Nonetheless, he hoped the "eight ministers from the state will raise their voice" in favour of demands like 'special category' status for Bihar, placing in the Ninth Schedule the law raising quotas for deprived castes to 75 per cent, and a nationwide caste census.

The Ninth Schedule of the Constitution includes a list of central and state laws that cannot be challenged in courts. In 1992, the Supreme Court capped reservations for the backward classes at 50 per cent.