In a bid to create a rainbow coalition of Dalit and OBC leaders in the Hindi heartland States, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to include yet another backward leader to its fold — Lalu Prasad Yadav’s trusted lieutenant Ram Kirpal Yadav.

Ram Kirpal Yadav will join the BJP in Delhi on Wednesday and is expected to contest on the party ticket from Patliputra. Miffed with Lalu Yadav for promoting his daughter Misa Bharti’s candidature from a seat he coveted, Ram Kirpal has quit the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and was won over by the BJP.

This is yet another character in the stellar caste of Dalit and OBC leaders whom the BJP is depending on to make a dent in the catchment area of the RJD, the Janata Dal (United) in Bihar and Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh. The party is also hoping to highlight its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s OBC credentials, along with his development agenda, in the run-up to the elections.

For the purpose, the party has tied up with Dalit leader Ramvilas Paswan and OBC leader Upendra Kushwaha in Bihar. In Uttar Pradesh, the party will use Dalit leader Udit Raj and is in the process of convincing Kurmi strongman Sone Lal Patel and his party, Apna Dal, to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Sachar Committee report Significantly, Modi himself is appealing to different sections of the society, besides touting his governance record and attacking opponents. A much unnoticed part of his speech in Purnia, Bihar, on Monday was his appeal to the Yadavs as well as the Muslims.

Modi surprisingly quoted the Sachar Committee report to highlight the poverty levels among Muslims in Bihar compared to Gujarat. The BJP has officially been against the constitution of Sachar Committee and has attacked its findings and recommendations.

Recalling the contribution of the Yadavs and the association Gujarat shared with the community, Modi said: “ Yaduvansh se humara nata hai (We are organically connected to the Yadav community). A lot of Yadav families are in the dairy business. This community produced chief ministers and ministers, but only the farmers here can answer whether justice was done to them.” Modi attacked other parties in Bihar for “playing politics in the name of secularism ” and quoted from the Sachar community report.

“This report says that poverty among urban Muslims is 45 per cent in Bihar and only 24 per cent in Gujarat. Among rural Muslims, this figure is 38 per cent in Bihar and 7 per cent in Gujarat. The per month expenditure for an urban Muslim in Bihar is ₹550 and ₹875 in Gujarat. This figure is ₹426 in rural Bihar and ₹670 in rural Gujarat.

Literacy among Muslims was 42 per cent in Bihar and 74 per cent in Gujarat. Infant mortality rate is 100 per 1,000 children in Bihar and 50 in Gujarat.

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