Patna, Feb. 6: The Assembly poll debacle last year hasn’t dented the morale of the RJD, said party’s Rajya Sabha MP Ramkripal Yadav at a news meet today.

Retorting to the comments made by BJP leaders at the Virat Karyakarta Samman Sammelan at Gandhi Maidan yesterday, Yadav said: “Before saying that the RJD is finished, Gadkari must do his homework. Just because we lost an election does not mean our party is finished. We still have the support of the masses. With the co-operation of the leaders and the workers, the party will regain its status as a major political force in the state, under the leadership of Lalu Prasad.”

Rubbishing the claims made by Gadkari, Yadav said: “In the last elections, the vote was split. NDA got 1.1 crore votes. The RJD-LJP alliance got the same. The BJP should not rejoice because the RJD lost. They should remember that 61 per cent of the electorate voted against the ruling coalition.”

The RJD leader also attacked chief minister Nitish Kumar. “There has not been enough growth in the state in the past few years. The condition of the Mahadalits has not improved. Nitish has created a Mahadalit Commission. But there are many neglected communities like Mehtar, Dom, Nut and Pasi. They have not been brought under the purview of the commission,” he said.

“The chief minister is saying that there has been development. But the villagers are still poor. The below poverty line (BPL) populace has become poorer,” Yadav added.

RJD state unit president Ram Chandra Purbey also attacked Nitish over the Mahadalit issue.

“Nitish is cheating and insulting these communities. He is dividing the Dalit community. Forming a commission for Mahadalits is an insult to the community people. Most of these people work as sanitation workers in the municipal corporations. Nitish had promised to give them land but has not yet done so,” said Purbey.

He added: “The community people have decided to support the RJD because they feel at home in our party. RJD also has a legal wing that will take the cases of these communities to court and seek justice. This party will not allow Nitish and his communal ally BJP to play caste politics. We will pressurise the government and make sure that the Mahadalits get justice,” said Purbey.

He also said though Nitish wanted Bihar to be a hi-tech state, he had failed at the grassroots level.