‘Should've made your wife the CM?’: Lalu Prasad's jibe at Nityanand Rai

Lalu Prasad had installed his wife Rabri Devi as the Bihar chief minister in 1997, days before he was arrested in the multi-crore fodder scam case.

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Tuesday hit out at Union minister Nityanand Rai, who had accused the former of installing his wife Rabri Devi as the chief minister while ignoring several capable leaders in his party.

Union minister Nityanand Rai and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad

"The Union Minister of State in Hajipur used to approach us to join our party. BJP had talked about making him the Chief Minister of Yadavs....He says that Lalu Yadav made Rabri Devi the Chief Minister. If Rabri Devi had not been made the Chief Minister, would I have made your wife the CM? (Agar Rabri Devi ko CM nahi banate to kya tumhari bibi ko banate)", the former Bihar chief minister was quoted by ANI.

“If Rabri Devi had not been there, RJD and our government would not have existed today. Nitish-Tejashwi government would not have been formed in Bihar if she had not held the CM position”, Lalu Prasad added.

Questioning the RJD chief's decision to make his wife the CM in 1997, Rai had said,"When Lalu Yadav went to jail, PV Narasimha was the PM. Even when CBI filed the charge sheet, Narasimha's government was there. When you were sentenced in 2013, there was Manmohan Singh i.e. Congress government. When you went to jail, why didn't you make other Yaduvanshi leaders the CM? You made Rabri Devi the CM".

"There were many capable leaders in RJD, including Jangdanand Singh, but he was not made the CM. He said that he always kept the Yadavs in the dark. It is because of Lalu Yadav that the Yadavas have the least number of jobs today Lalu Yadav only cares about his family and not about anyone else," the Union minister added.

Earlier in the day, Lalu Prasad had attacked the the BJP, accusing it of 'breaking' the Yadav community for its political gains.

“Wherever there is a BJP Government, Yaduvanshis are being broken. We will not let this happen. Like Lord Krishna protected the weak, our Government, and our organisation provided 75 per cent reservation - this was never thought of earlier”, he said.

“Besides reservation, lakhs of people were made teachers. Lakhs of more of such recruitments are going to take place, advertisements have been placed...People have been empowered. Before our government, were you allowed to cast a vote?...Forceful booth capturing used to take place”, Lalu Prasad added.

(With ANI inputs)