Patna, Nov 12 (PTI) Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor has said Brahmins in Bihar needed to mend fences with Muslims, whom he claimed they had "needlessly" alienated by aligning themselves with the BJP.
Kishor, who had made a similar statement a few days ago during a visit to a town in north Bihar, stood by his remarks when asked about state Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari's allegation that his advocacy of reviving an old social coalition showed he was acting as the "B team of the Congress".
"Mithilesh Tiwari seems to be too clever for his own good. I had shared my understanding with people who were concerned that Brahmins were losing political clout," Kishor said on Wednesday.
The Bankipur MLA, himself a Brahmin, claimed that the community's perceived decline in political influence had taken place despite its members continuing to elect representatives from their own caste to the Lok Sabha and the state assembly.
"I pointed out that not so long ago, there was a sort of social coalition between Brahmins and Muslims. But, of late, Brahmins have sided with the BJP and taken to abusing the minority community on social media," he said.
"This is despite the fact that Muslims are not their adversaries and are not beneficiaries of the reservation system," he added.
Kishor said Brahmins needed to build bridges not only with Muslims but also with members of the extremely backward classes.
He also recalled traditional marriage ceremonies, in which, he said, the priest played as important a role as the barber.
Kishor, who first came into the limelight after handling Narendra Modi's successful election campaign in 2014, also expressed hope that the prime minister would speak about the devastating floods in Bihar during his upcoming visit to the state.
"This year's floods were the worst the state has witnessed in several years. Yet, the PM has so far not even uttered a word of sympathy for the victims. On November 21, in Vaishali district, he will get a chance to show that he cares," he said.
Kishor alleged that the BJP-led NDA government had no solution to Bihar's persistent problems of unemployment and distress migration.
"The mad rush in trains during Diwali and Chhath flies in the face of the Samrat Choudhary government's claim that it will create one crore jobs," he said.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)