NEW DELHI: BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ’s attempt to reach out to Yadavs of Bihar, the only vote bank up for grabs after the incarceration of RJD leader Lalu Prasad, according to BJP, has created a few ripples.Lalu Prasad’s son and political heir Tejaswi Yadav accused Modi of practising just the kind of casteist politics BJP has accused his father and others of. Speaking to ET, he said, “the way he spoke about Yadavs, I have not heard such a direct appeal on caste lines by any leader from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. BJP which always accused us of being casteist, has come out with the worst casteist agenda.”Modi, in his speech, had openly appealed to the Yadav community of consideration. “I, a man from Yaduvanshi king, Sri Krishna’s Dwarka (in Gujarat), promise to take full care all Yaduvanshis in Bihar and UP,” Modi said at the meeting.Tejaswi Yadav was more than upset at this attempt at diluting the Rashtriya Janata Dal ’s powerful appeal to the community just because Lalu Prasad was in jail. “There is a great anger among the people at the way Laluji has been put in jail through a conspiracy. They are with us,” he said. “JD(U) has Sharad Yadav and BJP just made Nand Kishore Yadav their leader of the Opposition in the assembly; if the Yadav vote didn’t shift because of that, how will it shift now?” he asked.His assertion that there was great sympathy for Lalu Prasad may be true but BJP is convinced that the Yadav-OBC vote is the only one which can be swayed. That was the reason, senior leaders assert, that Nand Kishore Yadav was given the LoP’s post and Modi also made much of a personal narrative of being an OBC tea vendor rising through the ranks of BJP.“While there is sympathy for Lalu Prasad, the fact is that Yadavs are feeling insecure as their strongest leader is in jail,” said a senior BJP strategist. “The time is ripe to attempt a new social coalition in Bihar, which is the political laboratory of the country,” he added. Significantly, in the 2010 polls to the Bihar assembly, BJP cornered 16.46% votes and the Janata Dal (then allied to BJP) had got 23% votes. Even though it lost, RJD polled 18.84% votes. Much of it came from the Muslim-Yadav combo.Tejaswi has been touring the state extensively and making sure that the ground doesn’t slip from beneath RJD feet. “We are determined to fight Laluji’s case legally and in the people’s court,” he said. “In Bihar, JD(U) is Advaniji’s BJP, while Sushil Modi heads the other BJP. We are the only alternative to this divisive politics,” he said. These are fighting words when the leadership of an entire community seems to be at stake.