Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said in Bihar on Wednesday that his father and former CM Karunanidhi was very good friends with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Yadav, adding his son Tejashwi Yadav is walking in father's steps.
Calling Lalu Yadav one of the most prominent leaders in the country, Stalin said he was never intimidated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
MK Stalin joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in poll-bound Bihar. DMK MP and Stalin's sister Kanimozhi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav and CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya were also present.
"Our leader Karunanidhi and Lalu Yadav were very good friends. Lalu Prasad Yadav is one of the most prominent leaders in the country because he has never been intimidated by the BJP. Taking inspiration from him, his son Tejashwi Yadav is also walking in his footsteps," Stalin said, addressing a rally in Muzaffarpur.
Stalin's praise for Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi come amid suspense over INDIA bloc's chief minister face for Bihar. During a joint press conference in Araria on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi dodged a question about endorsing Tejashwi Yadav as their alliance’s chief minister face in Bihar.
{{/usCountry}}Stalin's praise for Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi come amid suspense over INDIA bloc's chief minister face for Bihar. During a joint press conference in Araria on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi dodged a question about endorsing Tejashwi Yadav as their alliance’s chief minister face in Bihar.
{{/usCountry}}The Tamil Nadu chief asserted that the INDIA bloc will win the Bihar assembly polls "if the elections were free and fair", and described deletion of voters' names from electoral rolls as "worse than terrorism".
The Congress party has alleged mass vote "chori" or theft by the Election Commission of India to make the BJP win. The allegations have been refuted by both.
"For the past one month, the entire nation has been looking keenly at Bihar... the Election Commission has become a remote-controlled puppet," PTI news agency quoted Stalin, who was impressed with the response to the yatra taken out in protest against the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.
"Is the deletion of names of 65 lakh people (from the draft electoral rolls) not worse than terrorism?" Stalin said. He was referring to the removal of 65 lakh names from Bihar electoral rolls as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise being carried out by the ECI.
Stalin said that when Rahul Gandhi raised doubts over the fairness of elections held in the past, he was challenged by chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to furnish an affidavit.
"But you cannot scare Rahul Gandhi," the DMK chief said, lauding his alliance partner.
"I have seen Rahul's camaraderie with Tejashwi, who ride motorcycles together. This friendship is deeper than a run-of-the-mill political partnership. And I am sure that if the elections are free and fair, the BJP-led NDA will be defeated," Stalin added.