A frail-looking Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad on Monday addressed his party leaders and workers after a long time and attacked the governments at the Centre and in the state while lauding his younger son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, saying a bright future lies ahead for the party under his leadership.
The former chief minister of Bihar, who had been jailed following his conviction in fodder scam cases in December 2017 and was released on bail about three months ago, was speaking at a function to mark the 25th foundation day of his party via a video conference from Delhi, where he has been convalescing at his MP daughter Misa Bharti’s residence since his discharge in April from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after treatment for various ailments.
“After Ayodhya, people (in power) are talking about Mathura (temple issue), which will destroy the social fabric. Do they want the nation to be destroyed?” Prasad said in his first public address since his release from jail after more than three years.
The RJD chief said the country was reeling under an unprecedented rise in prices of essential commodities and the devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. “Joblessness has further complicated people’s miseries. Cost of diesel and petrol is all-time high and has hit the poor,” Prasad said.
He attacked the BJP-led government at the Centre and said the joblessness was a result of faulty implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) and demonetization. “Both the factors had impacted the financial condition of the country so badly that the country has been pushed back by decades,” said the RJD leader.
Asserting that the RJD played a significant role in giving the nation five prime ministers, he said his party would bounce back on the national political horizon.
Accusing the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar of indulging in massive corruption and patronizing lawlessness, Prasad said not a day passed in Bihar without four-five murders.
“Lakhs of migrants and other people died in Bihar for want of adequate medical care during the pandemic. Situation would have been better had the government kept by its commitment to provide 19 lakh jobs,” said
Recounting the formation of RJD in 1997, Prasad said, “My party ushered in a social revolution by empowering the deprived sections with their votes and share in power. The status quoits sought to defame the RJD-led government by branding the regime as Jungle Raj.”
Lavishing praise on Tejashwi Yadav, who is the leader of the opposition in Bihar assembly, for astutely helming the party during the assembly elections in 2020, he said, “Frankly, I had never expected this from him. He safely anchored the RJD’s boat (naiya paar lagayi). RJD has a bright future,” he said.
RJD is the single largest party in the 243-member Bihar assembly though the JD(U)-BJP alliance governs the state.
Prasad also had a word of praise for his elder son Tej Pratap who, he said, made a “forceful speech” at the event.
The RJD supremo also credited his wife Rabri Devi, a former chief minister, and Tejashwi for being alive.
“But for them, I would have perished in Ranchi (where he was incarcerated in the fodder scam cases). Doctors at AIIMS here also took great care of me,” Prasad, who slurred at times during his half-an-hour speech, said.
He promised RJD workers and leaders that he will overcome whatever remained of the illness and visit Bihar soon. “I will come to Patna soon…not only Patna, I will mark my attendance in all districts of Bihar soon. Please don’t lose patience,” he told them.
In his speech, Tejashwi Yadav said the RJD might have been defeated in the last assembly polls due to misuse of official machinery, it would strive to work for ensuring economic justice to the people after accomplishing the objective of social justice.
Attacking the state government, he said, “Nothing moves in the government without corruption and no one is there to listen to the people’s grievances. Massive bungling of public money was done in the name of Covid management.”
Tej Pratap Yadav, former health minister in the state, said the party would continue to pursue the objective of social awakening. He, however, also aired his grievances against some senior party leaders saying the party workers’ bona fide demands were often overlooked in the organization.
State party chief Jagadanand Singh, former minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui, other senior leaders like Shivanand Tiwari, national spokesman Manoj Jha, Alok Kumar Mehta and Shyam Rajak were prominent among those who spoke on the occasion.
Former CM Rabri Devi made an informal appearance from Delhi and was seen helping he husband Lalu Prasad.
