Lalu Prasad-led RJD on Sunday said the Opposition has started to come together in several parts of the country and the BJP's journey from two to 303 seats will start reversing from 2024 as a collective alternative would trump the "self-centered" politics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rule.
The RJD made this assertion on the first day of its two-day national executive meeting that was attended by the top leaders including Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav. RJD recently joined JDU and Congress to form a Mahagathbandan government in Bihar led by Nitish Kumar who quit NDA.
In the context of Opposition unity, Lalu Prasad, Tejashvi Yadav, and Sharad Yadav said that all will sit together and issues will be discussed.
The meeting, which was addressed by Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav, and senior party leader Sharad Yadav, saw a discussion on three resolutions.
"Three important resolutions were put forward -- a political resolution which is crucial as it comes at a time when the country is being taken in an abyss of darkness, another one on foreign policy, and the third one on the economic situation of the country," said party spokesman and a member of Rajya Sabha, Manoj Jha.
He said the thrust of the speeches by Lalu Prasad, Tejashvi Yadav, and Sharad Yadav was that the country's situation is very serious with unemployment at its highest in five decades.
In between the meeting also saw some sparks as an upset Tej Pratap Yadav, a minister in the Bihar government and Lalu Prasad's elder son, left the meeting in a huff and accused party leader Shyam Rajak of abusing and mistreating his staff.
"The government has no blueprint. If you talk of unemployment, they talk of bulldozers and hijab. Where there should be a willingness to strengthen communal harmony, there they (BJP) are doing Hindu-Muslim. The country in its 75th year needs a new direction," Jha said briefing the media on the meeting outcomes.
"They (the three leaders) pointed out that the change in Bihar is not an ordinary one. We have come together putting aside differences and egos. Now, this has to be replicated in the whole country. The opposition will sit together, there will be talks and a progressive document will be prepared against unemployment, and inflation and in support of communal harmony so that in the 75th year of independence our heritage is not destroyed," he said.
Jha said the change that is needed has begun from Bihar and Opposition parties are sitting together in different parts of the country.
"When we sit together, a better alternative will emerge and it would not be an 'atmamugdh (self-centered)' person. We have seen the results of self-centered politics in the last eight years which have destroyed all things dear to us," the senior RJD leader said.
Asked if any names were discussed for leading the Opposition camp to take on the BJP in 2024, Jha said it's not the individual but collectivity that was important.
"We are not buying shampoo, that this will not work but this will work. Democracy is about collectivity, when collectivity is ended in democracy, it gives rise to Narendra Modis," the RJD leader said.
Will the alternative to Narendra Modi be a bigger Narendra Modi or the alternative will be collectivity? he asked.
"Those who say how can an alternative come about, they should recall 2004, was there a face then, how the 'Shining India' came down. Their (BJP's) journey from two seats to 303, will start going in reverse from 2024," he said.
Jha claimed that the BJP has been rattled with the Opposition joining ranks.
Elaborating on Lalu Prasad's remarks at the meeting, Jha said he talked of his history of social justice, challenges posed by the RSS-BJP that could destroy the fabric of the country, and the roadmap ahead.
Lalu Prasad said that every person has to unite 20 other people and take real issues to villages, according to Jha.
On the CBI filing a charge sheet against Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi in connection with the alleged land-for-railway jobs scam, Jha said "this is BJP's charge sheet".
"We don't want to act on their directions, so a closed case is reopened and you create characters on your own and then you file a charge sheet. We charge the BJP that you have destroyed the character of these institutions," he said.
On Mohan Bhagwat's remarks that the caste system should be discarded, Jha said such remarks do not behove those who promote the caste system.
"Look at the RSS structure, what social justice is there? RJD chief (Lalu Prasad) quoted from MS Golwalkar's book 'Bunch of Thoughts' that what he thought of Kashi Vishwanath temple, the Constitution, and reservation," he said.
RJD's Bihar unit chief Jagdanand Singh, who is said to be upset with the party ever since his son Sudhakar Singh was forced to resign from the Nitish Kumar government, skipped the meeting though Sudhakar attended.
Asked about Jagdanand Singh's absence, senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said he has close ties with the party's top leadership and his absence on Sunday cannot undermine the fact of his constant presence over the years.