New Delhi: RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Thursday said his party has “certainly” accepted the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and will try to get all non-NDA parties together under the Congress banner to defeat Modi government in the 2019 general election.

“We certainly accept (Rahul Gandhi as the leader of the UPA). The Congress is a national party... The country has accepted the Gandhi family because it has made sacrifices for the nation,” Lalu Prasad told News18.

He was asked if the RJD would accept Gandhi’s elevation as the Congress President by virtue of which he may also come to head the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Asked if other parties in the opposition combine would accept the 47-year-old Gandhi scion as UPA’s Prime Ministerial candidate, the RJD chief said they would sit together and “discuss what the Congress decides about it”.

“All of us including (West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Chief) Mamata Banerjee, (Samajwadi Party President) Aklhilesh Yadavji, (Jharkhand former Chief Minister and JMM chief) Shibu Soren, (Bahujan Samaj Party chief) Mayawati will sit together to discuss the decision of the Congress. It is not a tough task.” He said right now the opposition had a task to accord a farewell to the BJP in Gujarat. “We will see Narendra Modi off from Gujarat. The BJP will get a jolt in Gujarat.” He said the BJP was dividing the country and “misleading the youth in the name of Ram and cow” as they were fearing the election loss in Gujarat. “Now they are remembering the Ayodhya Ram.”

Separately, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asked senior party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar to apologise for his “neech” barb against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Expressing his thoughts on Twitter, Gandhi said that it is not the Congress party’s culture to use such language against political opponents.

“BJP and Prime Minister routinely use filthy language to attack the Congress party. The Congress has a different culture and heritage. I do not appreciate the tone and language used by Mr Mani Shankar Aiyer to address the Prime Minister. Both the Congress and I expect him to apologise for what he said,” Gandhi tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Aiyar called Modi a “bahut neech kisam ka aadmi” who is practising “dirty politics”.

Indo-Asian News Service