Paswan favours reservation for upper castes

PATNA: In a bid to woo the upper castes, Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ramvilas Paswan on Sunday advocated reservation for "economically backward" people belonging to upper castes in government and non-government services. "I had always advocated for reservation to economically backward people of upper caste in government as well as in public sectors," Paswan said while addressing a 'milan samorah' (coming together) here in which JD(U) leader and former MP from Jehanaband Arun Kumar joined the LJP. Paswan said there was no "paucity of well meaning leader in upper castes... what we lack today is the will power on the part of political leaders to make the country self-reliant." He advised the leaders, particularly Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to overcome the caste-creed and regional bias and work in unison so that the state could vie with developed states in the country. The LJP president said the Nitish Kumar government during its two-years of rule "failed miserably" to fulfill the promises made to the people of Bihar and even dithered on its promise to make the state crime free within three months of its assuming the office. Asking the people of Bihar to give the LJP a chance to run the state, Paswan said what the RJD and NDA could not do for the welfare of the Bihar, the LJP would make Bihar a "vibrant state" within shortest possible time. The LJP is holding a mass rally on November 28 at the Gandhi Maidan here ahead of Gujarat assembly elections.