Caste factor turns Sushant Singh Rajput death into emotive issue ahead of Bihar assembly polls

PATNA: The controversy over actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has turned into a political issue ahead of the Bihar assembly polls due at the end of this year.


Patna boy Sushant’s massive fan following in the state, especially among the youth, coupled with his dominant Rajput caste background, has all major political parties in the state trying to cash in. RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav was among the first to meet his parents and demand for a CBI probe, followed by LJP’s Chirag Paswan raising the issue with the Centre for a CBI probe.

JDU (U) too joined the chorus with Sushant’s MLA cousin Neeraj Bablu along with other party MLAs raising demand for a CBI probe at the assembly’s monsoon session on Monday. A day after, the government led by Nitish Kumar, who also holds the home portfolio, recommended a CBI probe on Tuesday.

Politicians cutting across party lines vouched for the case to be handed over to the CBI for “fair” and “impartial” investigation. At stake is the sizeable Rajput vote, which accounts for nearly 4% of the total 15% upper caste votes in Bihar and also plays a decisive role in the 40

assembly constituencies

.

“This could be gauged from the fact that in the 243-member assembly in the state, there are 19 MLAs from Rajput castes alone,” political analyst Pramod Kumar said.

However, the CBI probe recommendation has obviously not gone down well in Maharashtra, a non-NDA state. Congress leader Randeep Surjewala as well as Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut have both attacked CM Nitish Kumar for sending a police team to Mumbai for interfering into another state’s jurisdiction.

“Nitish ji ko phir se Bharat ka samvidhan padh lena chahiye (Nitish ji should go through the

Constitution of India

once again). The law and order is a state subject in the federal set up. And if the police of a state will interfere into the jurisdiction of another, it will lead to anarchy,” Surjewala said.

Yet, the issue is so divisive that the Bihar Congress has welcomed a CBI probe into the case.

“We hail the move of the state government. We have urged CM Nitish Kumar to ensure that the recommendation is accepted by the MHA. We raised the issue in the House, which led to the recommendation sent by the state government today,” Congress MLC Premchand Mishra said.

The Congress is an ally of RJD in the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar and it joined hands with Tejashwi on the issue of the CBI investigation. “In fact, local issues dominate the scene in the state polls more. So we have a different stand on the issue here compared to the national one,`` a senior Congress leader said on the condition of anonymity.

Earlier, Congress incharge for Bihar Shaktisinh Gohil had defended the Maharashtra government.

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