Rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav defied the party and joined top Opposition leaders such as Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav among others at a mega rally organised by RJD chief lalu Prasad in Patna on Sunday.
Prasad and his family showed their popularity and strength when hundreds of thousands of people across the State trooped in the sprawling Gandhi Maidan to attend the ‘BJP bhagao, Desh bachao’ rally. But the RJD supremo and his kin focused more on attacking Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The way Sharad Yadav hugged lalu at the stage gave a broad indication that the senior JD(U) leader has finally decided to join lalu’s company. Another JD(U) MP Ali Anwar was also present on the occasion.
Soon after the rally, JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi said Yadav’s participation in the rally of an Opposition party was a fit case for disqualification under Schedule 10 of its constitution as it amounted to anti-party activity.
He cited the examples of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and Upendra Kushwaha, who were disqualified on this ground. Tyagi had written a letter to Yadav a couple of days back, warning that his attending the rally organised by lalu would mean he has acted against the principles of the party and voluntarily quit its membership.
lalu, his wife and former CM Rabri Devi, both sons former Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and former Minister Tej Pratap Yadav and daughter Misa Bharti mounted scathing attack on Nitish calling him “dhokhebaz” and asked the crowd to teach him a lesson in 2019 and 2020 elections. They said false cases were framed against them at the behest of Nitish so that the RJD was ousted from power.
lalu said, “Nitish and many Bihar leaders of the NDA including Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi are my products. In 2015, the Mahagathbandhan won so many seats on my face. Nitish was jealous and scared of Tejashwi. False cases were instituted against me and my kin in bid to frighten me. I’m ready to be hanged but not will surrender before the BJP.”
Rabri Devi dared Nitish to contest an election on his own. “He is a murderer facing case under Section 302. He and Sushil Modi are khazana chor (treasury plunderers) and a big scam has taken place with their involvement,” she alleged. Her elder son Tej blew a conch shell calling it shankhnad for the battle.
Even though there was battery of senior leaders of different national and regional parties like West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, NCP leader and MP Tariq Anwar, former Jharkhand CMs Babulal Marandi and Hemant Soren, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and C P Joshi, CPI’s general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy and secretary D Raja along with JMM chief and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and JVM president Babulal Marandi attended the rally.
Despite the presence of so many Opposition leaders, there was not even a preface for the unity of the Opposition parties to counter BJP-led NDA.
Even if there had been any plan to initiate such a move it was frustrated by the refusal of former UP CM and BSP supremo Mayawati and the CPM to attend the rally for different reasons. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who were initially supposed to attend it also gave it a go by.
lalu had planned this rally when the party was sharing power with Nitish but in between the political situation in Bihar went upside down with Nitish joining hands and sharing power with BJP.
TMC head Mamata Banerjee was also critical of Nitish and said Mahagathbandhan was voted to power due to lalu’s image and he was a man of principle. “Those who betray are betrayed by people and also by God,” she said and added that she was ready to put her life in danger but would never join hands with the BJP which she alleged was only creating social and communal disharmony putting national unity in danger.
Sharad Yadav said country was facing a threat of disintegration due to BJP’s policies. Saying that his struggle would continue, he called upon to unite the masses without any discrimination and save the nation. Tejashwi said now he would embark on “Srijan ghotala yatra” which would turn out to be “Visarjan yatra” of the Nitish Government.
The public participation in the rally was impressive despite the fact that almost half of Bihar is reeling under the impact of floods. Bus loads of people had also come from some areas of Uttar Pradesh bordering Bihar. They exhibited their allegiance by wearing T-shirts with pictures of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh.