Tejashwi Yadav accused the ruling JD(U) in Bihar of being the “mastermind” behind the split in the LJP, which has isolated Chirag Paswan in his own party.
Tejashwi Yadav, an RJD leader and the leader of opposition in Bihar assembly, extended an olive branch to Chirag Paswan on Wednesday, urging the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader to reconsider its alliance with the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP which he said swears by the RSS ideology instead of the Constitution.
The son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav also accused the ruling JD(U) in Bihar of being the “mastermind” behind the split in the LJP, which has isolated Chirag Paswan in his own party that was being headed by him till recently and founded by his father Ram Vilas Paswan.
While talking to reporters at the airport after returning to Patna from Delhi, Mr Yadav also sought to remind Chirag Paswan that in 2005 and 2010 similar splits were engineered by the JD(U) in the LJP while his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad had “helped Ram Vilas Paswan get a Rajya Sabha berth after he lost his own Lok Sabha seat”.
“Chirag Paswan must now decide whom he wants to stand with – those abiding by the Bunch of Thoughts (the famous work by RSS ideologue MS Golwalkar) or those for whom the Constitution drafted by BR Ambedkar is supreme”, said Mr Yadav.
When pointed out that the JDU led by Nitish Kumar has claimed that it knew “nothing” about the split, Tejashwi Yadav responded mordantly.
“Nitish Kumar never knows anything. Perhaps, he does not even read the papers. He must be unaware that in 27 out of 38 districts of Bihar, the price of petrol has crossed ₹ 100 per litre”, the RJD leader said.
Questioned over the ruling party’s criticism of his protracted absence from Bihar, Mr Yadav stressed that he had been away to look after his ailing father.
“The ruling dispensation must be aware that I am a beta (son) along with being a neta (leader). Moreover, what would I have been able to do for the people here when even those in power had been forbidden from venturing out”, Mr Yadav remarked, in a reference to a circular issued by the state cabinet secretariat asking ministers to refrain from undertaking tours during the Covid-induced lockdown.
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