PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) will hold a meeting of Dalits, ‘Bhim Sansad’ in the state capital ahead of the assembly election due next year.’Bhim Sansad’ will be organised on November 26, coinciding with ‘Samvidhan Diwas’. The JD (U) had held a meeting of Dalits last year as well, but it has special significance now, as former poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party formed less than two weeks ago has decided to field its candidates in all 243 seats of the state. Kishor to woo voters from Scheduled Castes, appointed Manoj Bharti, a Dalit as the working president of the Jan Suraaj Party. Bharti was an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer. No political party can undermine the importance of Dalits in the caste-centric politics of Bihar as they constitute 19.65 per cent of the state`s population. Last year too, JD (U) had organised ‘Bhim Sansad’ on the Constitution Day with the objective of wooing Dalit voters to the party.JD (U) is now vigorously organising such events, particularly because RJD is also trying hard to project itself as an ‘A to Z’ party and eyeing Dalits votes aggressively. Besides RJD and other parties in the Opposition camp, two union ministers – – Chirag Paswan (Chief of LJP-Ram Vilas) and Jitan Ram Manjhi (founder of HAM) claim to have the support of Paswan and Musahar respectively. Both these two castes have been categorised as Scheduled Castes. JD (U) has also decided to organise a ‘Dalit Mahakumbh’, a gathering of Dalits across the state on April 14, the birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar. Senior JD (U) leader and Bihar Rural Works Minister Ashok Choudhary, a prominent Dalit face of the party, is playing a crucial role in organising these events in the party’s outreach to the SC community. He told mediapersons that JD (U) would make efforts to consolidate the Dalit voters in favour of the NDA, ahead of assembly elections. “Nitish has a brilliant track record of empowering Dalits during his tenure, be it categorisation of Dalits, caste census or launching specific government schemes for the betterment of the community,” he added.
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