JD(U) leader calls Lalu Yadav ‘crazy’ for backing Rahul Gandhi as PM | Watch

The RJD chief has gone 'crazy' after his recent kidney transplant, according to Gopal Mandal of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's party, an ally.

Published on: Sep 4, 2023, 10:16:23 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav ‘has gone crazy’ after his kidney transplant, a leader of RJD ally Janata Dal (United) said on Sunday, as he opposed the veteran politician's backing for Congress' Rahul Gandhi as the next prime minister.

Rahul Gandhi at Lalu Prasad Yadav's house in Delhi

No one can become the prime minister just because someone says so, remarked Gopal Mandal of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U).

“It was Nitish Kumar who united all the opposition parties against the BJP (for 2024 Lok Sabha polls). Lalu ji is the messiah of the poor and our senior leader, but just because he took Rahul Gandhi's name as PM, it does not mean that he (Gandhi) gets to be the PM,” Mandal said, according to news agency ANI.

The JD(U) leader, however, noted that he is not saying that Gandhi does not have the qualities of a prime minister.

“Gandhi comes from a family of former PM's, but he cannot be a PM himself just because Lalu ji has backed him. Lalu ji had a kidney transplant…he has gone crazy,” Mandal stated.

The JD(U), RJD, and the Congress, along with the Left parties, run Bihar as the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance). Each is also among the 28 constituents of the I.N.D.I.A (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) opposition bloc that will take on the Centre's BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in next year's general elections, when Narendra Modi will seek a third straight term as the prime minister.

While I.N.D.I.A is yet to announce its PM candidate, parties such as the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), and even the JD(U) have put forward names of their respective leaders (Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar) for the position. Such statements, however, have been made by people who are not part of formal interactions among the parties.

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