Lalu Yadav recalls being ‘lured’ by PM Modi's ‘ ₹15 lakh offer', slams BJP govt for ‘lying and spreading rumours’
The RJD supreme was speaking at the press conference held in Mumbai after the two-day I.N.D.I.A. bloc meeting ended.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his 2014 poll plank where he allegedly claimed to ‘deposit ₹15 lakh in each bank account' from the ‘(black) money’ that had been allegedly deposited in large sums in Swiss Banks. “I was also lured by the offer and opened a bank account along with my family,” the former Union minister and Bihar chief minister at the joint press conference of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc in Mumbai.
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“You must recall how they (BJP-NDA) came to power by lying and spreading rumours. They took my name as well as that of several other leaders' names that we have money in Swiss Banks. PM Modi said that he would come to power, get back money from Swiss Banks and deposit that money in the accounts of the people of the country. I too was lured by the offer...I didn't do the kind of evil corruption that is being done and facilitated by Narendra Modi,” he said.
He further said that minorities are not safe in the country under the BJP government's rule and that the country ‘suffered’ because the Opposition parties were not united.
Lalu Yadav's remark came days after he claimed that the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc was ‘holding Narendra Modi by his throat’, ahead of leaving for the meeting in Mumbai. "Hum log Narendra Modi ka nareti pakde hue hain…nareti par chadhne jaa rahe hain (we are holding Narendra Modi by his throat, we are going to tighten our hold)," he told the reporters in Patna.
Soon after, the BJP reacted to the statement and asked the RJD chief to not use foul language against any leader.
"At the end of his political career, Laluji is desperate to make his son the chief minister of Bihar and that is why he is going out of the way to grab headlines and pressurise Nitish Kumar," BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said.
