Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Monday said attempts were on to stoke religious sentiments and destroy social harmony for the sake of power at a time when the country was passing though the worst economic crisis.
“After Ayodhya, people (in power) are gearing up to take up the Mathura temple issue and spoil the social balance. Do they want the nation to be destroyed?” he said in his first public address after his release from the jail after more than three years. He was speaking at a function to mark 25 years of the RJD via video conferencing from Delhi.
The RJD chief said that the country was grappling with an unprecedented price rise. “Unemployment has further added to the public’s misery. Fuel prices are at an all-time high,” he said.
He said that the implementation of goods and services tax (GST) and demonetisation “impacted the country in such a way that we have been pushed back by a few decades”.
The RJD, he said, gave the nation five prime ministers, and the party will rise again on the national political horizon and help the country make up for the losses it had incurred in recent past.
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Accusing the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government of indulging in corruption and patronising lawlessness, Prasad said, “People (in power) are dishing out lies with confidence to hide the issues of governance. Lakhs of people died in the state for want of medical care during the pandemic. The situation would have been better had the government fulfilled its promise of providing 1.9 million jobs,” he said.
Recalling the formation of RJD in 1997, Prasad said people ridiculed him when he started Charwaha Vidyalaya for those unable to attend formal schooling. “My party ushered in a social revolution by empowering the deprived sections to caste their votes and ask for their share in power,” said the RJD chief, adding that he would visit Bihar soon.
The Leader of the Opposition in state assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, said, “Nothing moves in the government without corruption, and this government has no one who listens to the people’s grievances. Massive bungling of public exchequer was done in the name of Covid management,” adding that a statewide agitation against the spiralling prices of essential commodities would be launched soon.
Former health minister and Prasad’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav said the party would continue to pursue the objective of social awakening. He, however, also aired his grievance against some senior party leaders that party workers’ bona fide demands were often overlooked within the organisation.
Prominent among those who attended the event were state party chief Jagadanand Singh, former minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Shivanand Tiwari, national spokesperson Manoj Jha, Alok Kumar Mehta and Shyam Rajak. Former CM Rabri Devi also made an informal appearance from Delhi along with the RJD chief.
