In politics, timing is everything. On November 26, as the country celebrated its 75th Constitution Day, Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the Opposition in Bihar, chose a moment of political vulnerability to make a bold demand in the state assembly. That of bringing in a new bill to raise the reservation limit in government jobs and educational institutions in Bihar to 85 per cent. Just three days before, the news hadn’t been kind. In a bruising electoral debacle, Tejashwi’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had lost three critical bypolls; the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), of which his party is a key constituent, failed to secure any of its four Bihar contests. So his policy proposal smelt very much like a political retort.
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