Tejashwi Yadav Pressures Nitish on Quota Hike

Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD has sharply criticized Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for his silence over a request to raise reservations for weaker sections to 85%. Yadav made this demand via a letter, suggesting a special legislative session to secure these quotas in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, protecting them from legal challenges. A similar move by the Bihar government was overturned by the Patna High Court in 2023.

Yadav's statements came amid heated political discourse, questioning whether Kumar and fellow NDA leaders are committed to fulfilling this demand by the central government. RJD's Manoj Kumar Jha accused the state of neglecting underprivileged communities and criticized the BJP and RSS for supposedly undermining the caste census effort by not sharing the findings.

Responding to the accusations, JD(U) spokesman Rajiv Ranjan Prasad accused RJD of manipulating the caste census issue for electoral gains, reminding critics that the JD(U) conducted the state's first caste survey after years of RJD rule without one.

(With inputs from agencies.)