Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his visit to Bihar’s Gaya Ji.
Posting on X, Yadav said, “Prime Minister Modi ji is coming to Gaya today to perform the political last rites of Nitish Kumar and his party.” The comment invoked the ritual of pind daan, traditionally performed in Gaya Ji for departed souls, to mock the political fate of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his party.
The comment comes in the run-up to the Bihar assembly election, which is expected to be held by the end of this year.
CONGRESS DEFENDS LALU’S ‘STYLE’
Reacting to the remark, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said Lalu Yadav had his own style of political expression. “Gaya is a place where people go to perform pind daan. He has associated Nitish Kumar and the Prime Minister with it. It is his own style,” Tiwari told reporters, while adding that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was receiving “unprecedented support” in his campaign against the ruling alliance.
RJD’S MANOJ JHA BACKS METAPHOR
RJD MP Manoj Jha said Lalu Prasad often spoke in metaphors, reflecting his rooted style of politics. “They are surely putting an end to Nitish Kumar’s politics. We just request the PM to keep visiting Bihar even after the elections and treat Bihar the way he treats Gujarat. It should not be that industries keep coming up in Gujarat while only labourers are supplied from Bihar,” Jha remarked.
BJP HITS BACK, SAYS RJD’S POLITICS NEAR ‘END’
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongly criticised Lalu Yadav’s statement. Party leader Neeraj Kumar countered, “PM Modi is coming to Bihar to perform the pind daan of Tejashwi Yadav’s politics in Gaya and the final rites in Simaria. Lalu Yadav should not be mistaken. After this election, RJD’s politics will be finished. People of Bihar do not want jungle raj again.”
BJP national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain also condemned the remark. “Lalu Yadav is giving an undignified statement. It shows how rattled he is. When PM Modi visits Bihar, leaders of the Mahagathbandhan tremble. To say that the PM is coming for pind daan is unfortunate. This time, people of Bihar will do the pind daan of Mahagathbandhan as NDA will win more than 200 seats,” Hussain said.
JDU SAYS VOTERS WILL CONSIGN RJD TO PAST
Janata Dal (United) leader Rajeev Ranjan Prasad echoed the BJP’s stance, saying PM Modi’s visits to Bihar always brought development promises. “The pind daan will be done by the people for RJD in this election. This will be RJD’s last election. After polls, we will thank the people of Bihar. Lalu and Tejashwi are arrogant leaders,” he said.
PM MODI’S BIG DEVELOPMENT PUSH IN GAYA JI
Amid the political sparring, PM Modi inaugurated multiple projects worth around Rs 13,000 crore at Gaya Ji on Friday. The visit comes amid intense electioneering in Magadh, a weak spot for the NDA historically.