Patna, Nov 30 (IANS): Bihar Minister and state BJP President Dilip Jaiswal on Saturday criticised RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son and party leader Tejashwi Yadav over the reservation issue, saying that their statements on the subject lack substance.

Dilip Jaiswal argued that the credit for implementing reservation policies in Bihar goes to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and not the RJD leaders.

"Tejashwi Yadav always claims credit for providing reservation to the people of Bihar, but the fact is that he has not done anything. It was Nitish Kumar who implemented reservations. I challenge Tejashwi Yadav to ask his father, Lalu Prasad, how much reservation was given during his tenure as CM," Jaiswal stated.

Increasing the reservation percentage of Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Classes and Scheduled Tribes to 65 per cent has emerged as a contentious issue during the winter session of the Bihar Assembly. Opposition leaders, including Tejashwi Yadav, raised the topic, which led to heated debates.

Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary also accused Tejashwi of making baseless claims, resulting in a confrontation between the two leaders in the House.

In response, Tejashwi Yadav highlighted Lalu Prasad's decision to increase reservation for marginalised communities from 12 per cent to 14 per cent during his tenure as Chief Minister, asserting that such statements by Deputy Chief Minister Chaudhary were "baseless and politically motivated".

"Lalu Yadav's government was the first to increase reservation benefits for backward classes from 12 per cent to 14 per cent. Samrat Chaudhary also credited the implementation of reservation in Panchayati Raj to Nitish Kumar, but I want to clarify that the groundwork for the policy was laid during Rabri Devi's tenure. The policy faced legal challenges but was eventually implemented under Nitish Kumar's administration," Tejashwi said.

Tejashwi accused Deputy Chief Miniter Chaudhary of misrepresenting facts to serve political narratives.

Tejashwi accused Samrat Chaudhary of dishonesty and alleged that his recent association with the BJP might be influencing his statements.

He said: "Samrat Chaudhary, a member of RJD in the past, was contradicting established historical facts about the Mandal Commission's implementation."