Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Wednesday challenged Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to field any candidate from his family against him, pledging to retire from electoral politics if he was defeated and daring Mr. Yadav to pledge the same if the BJP leader won the contest.
Mr. Rai’s statement came a day after the RJD chief had issued his own challenge, claiming that if his son Tej Pratap Yadav contested against him, Mr. Rai would lose even his security deposit.
“I am ready for the challenge but there is a request to Lalu ji that he should send anyone from his family to contest elections from Ujiarpur [which is Mr. Rai’s Lok Sabha seat]. If I lose, I will retire from the electoral politics of Bihar and will work as the booth president of BJP for the rest of my life. If his family member is defeated, then he will retire from Bihar politics,” Mr. Rai said, speaking to the media in Patna.
Trading accusations
In another war of words, the BJP leader had accused the senior Mr. Yadav of ignoring capable leaders in his party when he installed his wife Rabri Devi as Chief Minister. The RJD chief then asked rhetorically whether he should have made Mr. Rai’s wife the CM instead. Mr. Rai hit back, calling Mr. Yadav a “habitual offender”.
The BJP leader also alleged that Mr. Yadav had pressured him to join the RJD many years ago. “Lalu Prasad had put pressure on me many times to join RJD. Many cases were also filed against me, but I never left the BJP. I will remain in jail but will not give up my membership of BJP. He is following the path of corruption, nepotism and acquiring wealth through illegal means,” Mr. Rai alleged.
Wooing Yadavs
On Tuesday, the BJP had organised a programme on the occasion of Govardhan Mahotsav in which the party claimed that more than 21,000 Yadavs, who are the largest group of other backward classes (OBCs) in the State, joined the party.
On Wednesday, Mr. Rai levelled a serious allegation, claiming that Mr. Yadav had allowed the launch of a large number of illegal slaughter houses, despite being a Yadav who always worshiped the holy cow.
The RJD and BJP are both battling for the votes of the Yadav community, as this is crucial for the opposition BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha poll scheduled to be held next year.
Mr. Rai urged Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to reject dynasty politics, which is allegedly being promoted by Mr. Yadav, and replace his son Tejashwi Yadav, appointing another Yadav leader to the Deputy Chief Minister’s post
