Eye on Yadav pie: Nityanand dares Lalu to field his son against him

War of words broke out between the two Yadav leaders on Tuesday when both were addressing separate gatherings in Patna to mark Govardhan Puja.

The war of words between Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai, which broke out on Tuesday when both were addressing separate gatherings in Patna to mark Govardhan Puja celebrated by the Yadav community that both belong to, intensified on Wednesday, with the union minister lashing out at the former Bihar chief minister again.

Union minister Nityanand Rai speaks to reporters in Patna on Wednesday. (Santosh Kumar/HT)

On Tuesday, Rai, a second-term Lok Sabha member from Ujiarpur in Bihar, had accused Prasad of practising dynastic politics, citing his decision to make his wife Rabri Devi the chief minister after he was charge-sheeted in a fodder scam case way back in 1997.

Later the same day, the RJD chief responded mockingly, “Should I have made Nityanand Rai’s wife the CM instead?”

The union minister shot back on Wednesday. “I am not a dynast. My father had quit the post of mukhiya soon after I was elected an MLA. But Laluji pursues family rule and it is reflected in how he has surrendered before CM Nitish Kumar to make his son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav the deputy CM. I dare the RJD chief to make somebody else from the Yadav community coming from a poor background the deputy CM ,” Rai told reporters in Patna.

“In my party, we do not believe in dynastic politics. Except me, no one else my family is an MLA or MLC,” Rai said.

He said Lalu Prasad’s family members always get the key posts, be it Rabri Devi as CM or Tejashwi Yadav as deputy CM, when RJD is in power. “Why is the RJD chief not giving key posts to other Yadav leaders in the party. After all, he seeks votes from Yadav community and there are so many leaders in his party. It shows he does not trust anybody except his family members,” Rai said.

This year, BJP had organised a big event in Patna on Tuesday on the occasion of Govardhan puja, a festival associated with Lord Krishna that Yadavs believe to have descended from.

The RJD chief also attended a separate event at a prominent temple in Patna on the occasion.

As per the Bihar caste survey findings released recently, Yadavs constitute 14.30% of the state’s 13 crore population and form the single largest caste group. Along with Muslims (17.70% of state’s population), the community is considered to have been traditionally loyal to Lalu Yadav since his rise in Bihar in 1990s, though RJD drew a blank in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

BJP, which suddenly found itself ousted from power in Bihar in August last year when Nitish Kumar bolted to the RJD-led alliance and formed a new government, has apparently been working to project Nityanand Rai as a counter to Lalu Prasad’s party, a move that perhaps triggered the war of words between the two leaders.

“You ( Nityanand Rai) patronise ferrying of cows and cattle from Hajipur, which are then slaughtered. And you call yourself cow protector. If I field my elder son and minister Tej Pratap Yadav against you ( Nityanand Rai), you would lose your deposit,” the RJD chief had said on Tuesday.

The former CM said he would not allow Yadavs to get divided. “BJP is pursuing divisive politics in the name of religion and has weakened Yadavs in many states. We championed the cause of weaker sections and facilitated the hike in reservation in state jobs and educational institutions for backward, scheduled castes/tribes,” he said.

Rai shot back on Wednesday and trashed the allegations of patronising slaughter of cows, saying the RJD chief was telling “white lies”. He sough to highlight how he and his party had opposed the slaughtering of cows in Araria , a reason why an FIR was lodged against him. “Lets us both, I and Laluji, stand together on banks of Ganga and prove who is a true pious Yadav,” Rai said.

The union minister also dared the RJD chief to field his elder son or anybody from Ujiarpur in the next Lok Sabha elections and said he would retire from politics if he loses. “But if Lalu’s elder son or younger son or anybody else from RJD loses from Ujiarpur, they would also have to retire from politics. You (read Lalu) please do it,” Rai said.