Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad on Monday bristled at the Bharatiya Janata Party's assertion that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will return for a third consecutive term, asserting that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will drive him out of power.
Prasad was approached with queries by journalists at the airport, where he had reached, alongside son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, to board a flight to Delhi for the coalition meeting on Tuesday.
The ailing septuagenarian began on an ebullient note, saying he was looking forward to the meeting, where all the alliance partners will sit together and chalk out the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"You people seem to have just one thing to say that Modi is going to come back (to power). If it is so, so be it... Please do not make a big fuss about Modi. We all in INDIA will drive him out of power," Prasad said.
He was commenting on the catchphrase Modi ki guarantee' with which the BJP has been going to town to assert that the assurance of good governance will ensure the prime minister's return to power.
Meanwhile, state BJP president Samrat Choudhary reacted to Prasad's statement, saying, "Lalu ji seems to be joking. He must have lost count of the number of times he has tasted electoral defeat. In Bihar, he is remembered for patronising criminals and indulging in corruption, which has resulted in his conviction in fodder scam cases."
The RJD is at present enjoying power in Bihar not through legitimate means, but because of the treachery of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had contested the assembly polls as our ally, but betrayed the mandate.
Both his Janata Dal-United and Rashtriya Janata Dal will be punished by the people of Bihar, Choudhary added.
