Patna,(BiharTimes): Though very well ensconced in the Centre and also hoping to come to power in Bihar yet the Bharatiya Janata Party is brazenly playing the caste politics in such a way which even the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal (United) are not doing.

On Tuesday the party apparently held a function to mark the coronation of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, but it ended up accusing the RJD and JD (U) of ignoring the Kushwahas (Koeris). The party leaders did not stop there, but went on to call Chandragupta Maurya and Ashok as Kushwahas.Present on the occasion was the leader of opposition in the state Legislative Council and Assembly, Sushil Kumar Modi and Nand Kishore Yadav respectively, state BJP chief Mangal Pandey, senior party leader and president of Akhil Bharatiya Kushwaha Parishad, Suraj Nandan Kushwaha, several MPs, MLCs,
MLCs and others.

All these leaders claimed that their party has the support of both Mandal and Kamandal and these two forces would help the party get power in the state in 2015 Assembly elections.Suraj Nandan Kushwaha, who was the hero of the function, said Kushwahas or Koeris have 10 per cent population in the state, which is next to Yadavs.Whatever may be the political motive of the BJP historians totally disagree that the two emperors of ancient India were actually Koeris.Prominent historian and authority on Mauryan period, Romila Thapar––when asked if there was any specific reference to the caste and date of coronation of Chandragupta Maurya––told the Telegraph that: “Not that I know of.” “There are contradictions even on the year of his coronation.”Many other historians hold the same view.

The irony is that Suraj Nandan Kushwaha too teaches History in Guru Govind Singh College in Patna City. However, even he failed to substantiate his claim with any historical evidence.Ironically, till a few months back the BJP has been criticizing the RJD and JD(U) of playing caste politics. But on the eve of the Lok Sabha election and even now the saffron party is outdoing the earlier named two parties.