Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have hinted that in the event of Sharad Yadav participating in Prasad’s rally in violation of the party line, he might lose his Rajya Sabha membership. (Photo: ANI)
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav will lead an anti-BJP rally in Patna on Sunday under the banner ‘BJP bhagao, desh bachao’. The rally aims to unite opposition parties across the country in an effort to unseat the BJP from power.
Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lalu Prasad Yadav said: “The country is witnessing an emergency-like situation today. Those not agreeing with him are being harassed by lodging court cases.”
Who are attending the rally?
Prominent politicians like Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav, and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad will be joining ranks with Lalu Prasad Yadav in a show of force against the BJP rule at the center and in the state.
Leaders from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, JVM, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Kerala Congress, RSP, AIUDF, National Conference and Janata Dal (Secular) leaders would share the stage with Lalu Prasad.
Some of the prominent leaders not attending the anti-BJP rally include Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati.
Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Aggarwal said that over 6,000 policemen would be deployed for the rally on Sunday. He added that 64 CCTV cameras, 32 inside Gandhi Maidan and as many outside it, have been installed.
Sharad Yadav might face action for participating
“Earlier it was rally of RJD but now it has become a rally of Mahagatbandhan (grand alliance) to save the country,” Sharad Yadav told reporters at Jay Prakash Narayan Airport on his arrival to attend the rally. When asked about JD(U) warning him of action if he participated in the rally, Sharad Yadav refused to comment. “I have nothing to say.”
Meanwhile, JD(U) principal general secretary K C Tyagi reiterated the party’s stand that with the exit of “mahanayak” (Nitish Kumar) of the erstwhile grand alliance, the Mahagatbandhan ceases to exist. Tyagi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have hinted that in the event of Sharad Yadav might lose his Rajya Sabha membership for violating the party line.
Criticising RJD for organising the rally, Bihar JD(U) chief spokesman Sanjay Singh said, “instead of visiting flood victims, Lalu Prasad is busy showing his face as well as those of his two sons.”
“August 27 will be counted as a black day in the political history of the country,” he added.
CPI(M) skips rally
Some sections of the opposition have decried CPI(M)’s absence in the rally, whereas CPI(M) leadership has stated that had the organisers included apolitical persons and portrayed the rally as an anti-communal gathering, the party would have participated. “Our party general secretary (Sitaram Yechury) or any other representative of the party will not attend the rally owing to Mamata Banerjee’s presence,” a top CPI(M) leader told news agency PTI.
The CPI(M)’s organ People’s Democracy, edited by former general secretary Prakash Karat, in its last edition had asserted that “putting together an alliance of a motley bunch of secular parties” will not help in countering the BJP.
“The Modi government and the BJP are pursuing neo-liberal policies and the Hindutva communal agenda. So, to take the struggle forward against the Centre, there has to be a fight against both the neo-liberal policies and the communal onslaught.”
