In poll-bound Bihar, opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders on Monday raised doubts over letters written by former Union Minister and veteran socialist leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh from his hospital bed at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, only three days before he breathed his last. However, ruling NDA leaders reacted sharply against the RJD on its apprehensions.
Mr. Singh’s body was consigned to flames at his ancestral village in Vaishali district on Monday.
Letter to Lalu
Before his death on September 13 at the AIIMS, Mr. Singh had shot off a handwritten letter to party president Lalu Prasad (on September 10) to say he would no longer be with the party after 32 long years of standing behind him. Next day on September 11, he also posted several letters to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar while drawing his attention to some development issues related to his constituency and welfare of poor farmers and workers. Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while paying tributes to Mr. Singh, too referred to those letters and said, “I would request Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to fulfil those demands of Raghuvansh Prasad Singh as he spoke about development in his letters.”
However, on Monday, senior RJD leader and party MLA Bhai Virendra raised doubts over letters written by Mr. Singh from his hospital bed. “How can a person admitted to the Intensive Care Unit [ICU] of a hospital write such letters,” he asked. Party MLC Subodh Rai and senior State Congress leader and party Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Singh, too echoed the same views. “I had met Raghuvansh Babu at AIIMS a week before his death and he was critical of Nitish Kumar and his government on several issues … how can he write such letters from his hospital bed just a week later,” asked the Congress leader. “The letters written to Nitish Kumar were too many and promptly shared on social media at short intervals … it all smacks a conspiracy by the NDA in poll-bound Bihar,” said Mr. Virendra.
Soon after the RJD and Congress leaders raised doubts over Mr. Singh’s letter, the NDA expressed outrage and criticised them for being “insensitive.” “They [the RJD leaders] seem to have no shame … they never cared about his [Raghuvansh Prasad Singh] well-being while he was battling for life in the hospital … Raghuvansh babu has only raised issues related to development,” said JD(U) leader and Minister Neeraj Kumar.
BJP’s view
State BJP leader and party spokesman Nikhil Anand said, “a veteran socialist leader like Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had been tormented by the pettiness of the RJD’s new generation of leaders. Who can forget Tej Pratap Yadav’s denigrating remarks against him?.” Earlier, amid talks of Mr. Singh’s likely resignation from the party, Tej Pratap Yadav, elder son of Mr. Lalu Prasad, had remarked that “Mr. Singh’s exit will make no difference for an ocean-like party RJD.”
Meanwhile, the body of Mr. Singh, five-time MP from Vaishali, was consigned to flames at his ancestral village in the district. Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav and other senior leaders across party lines were present to pay their last respects to the departed soul.