Patna, May 23: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to people of Bihar to rise above caste affiliations, the BJP was at the Goswami Mahasamellan, trying to woo the community for Assembly polls.

The event in New Delhi, where Modi spoke about discarding caste politics in the state, was organised to mark the golden jubilee of two iconic works by poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. In recent years, political parties have used the poet to woo a section of upper castes in Bihar. Not surprisingly, the BJP's opponents described Modi's move, yesterday, a "subtle trick" to woo the upper caste Bhumihars.

In fact, the party has been targeting various castes and communities in the run-up to the state elections. Just last week, BJP officials gathered under the umbrella of the Rashtravadi Kushwaha Parisad to mark the 2,320th birth anniversary of emperor Asoka and projected the Mauryan monarch as a member of the Kushwaha community, the second largest OBC group in the state. Expectedly, the party is trying to win them over in the run-up to the Assembly elections.

At today's event, organised by the Akhil Bhartiya Goswami Samaj, senior BJP leaders spoke at length about the party's "proximity" to the community, which has 26 lakh voters, primarily in Chhapra, Siwan and Motihari. "Goswami community has been associated with the BJP and Jan Sangh from long ago. Efforts were made in between to wean the community away from the BJP, but they continue to stand with us, as seen in the last Lok Sabha elections. The BJP would not leave any community behind," said Sushil Kumar Modi, senior BJP leader and leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council.

BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi refuted claims of the party trying to lure the Goswamis, but also spoke about work done by the BJP to promote the community. "The first time a representative of the community went to the state Assembly in 1995 was with the BJP's support. Our party is against caste politics, but we work for the betterment of all sections of society to ensure all-round development," Sudhanshu said.

BJP state president Mangal Pandey said the Goswami community would be included among extremely backward classes if the party wins the upcoming Assembly elections.