Bihar election verdict will settle reservation issue: Sharad Yadav

He added that both the issues of "social disparity and development" are important in Bihar polls

The poll verdict of Bihar will settle the issue of reservation in favour of the quota beneficiaries permanently, according to JD(U) President Sharad Yadav.

The JD-U leader said both the issues of "social disparity and development" are important in Bihar polls, while noting that majority of people in Bihar hail from the reserved categories.

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"Bihar election will protect the tool of reservation provided to deprived sections by our Constitution. I appeal to people to save the mechanism of reservation through their vote. Press the right button and protect it. Bihar election outcome will settle the issue of reservation for once and all. If people press the right button, nobody will be able to remove reservation," he told PTI in an interview.

Muslims and Mahadalits constitute around 16% of total votes, Yadav 14%, Bania, Koiri and other Extremely Backward Castes (EBC) 8% each, Mallah around 7%, the upper caste block of Brahmin-Bhumihar- Rajput-Kayasth around 16% and Kurmi 4%.

What the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said on the issue of reservation had a wide impact on all beneficiaries of quota like Dalits and backwards besides the conscious upper caste voters, who believed in social justice. It is an opportunity for those who want to save reservation. They have to just cast their vote and fail those who want to remove reservation, he said.

Asked whether he is confident that the Muslim Yadav (MY) combination, which was the core strength of Lalu Prasad's RJD that ruled the state for 15 years, is intact this time for the grand alliance of JDU-RJD and Congress, he claimed that not only his "but all the poor castes and the conscious among the upper castes are together" with the grand alliance.

He also said that there is no Third Front in Bihar and the electoral fight in Bihar is a direct one.