Lalu questions Congress utility as ally, draws flak for comments on Bhakta Charan Das

PATNA: RJD president Lalu Prasad on Sunday questioned the utility of the Congress as an ally in assembly election and drew sharp reaction from the grand old party as well as the NDA leaders for calling AICC in-charge for Bihar, Bhakta Charan Das, a ‘Bhakchonhar’ (imprudent person).
“Should we cede assembly seats to the Congress for losing and even forfeiting the deposits?” Lalu asked while responding to media query in New Delhi before leaving for Patna. He was referring to the assembly byelection in Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur in Bihar on October 30. RJD refused to cede Kusheshwar Asthan to Congress, which had finished runner-up there in the 2020 assembly polls. Now, RJD and Congress are contesting from both the seats against the JD(U).

“Kya hota hai Congress ka gathbandhan? (What is all about an alliance with the Congress?),” Lalu retorted when asked about a virtual collapse of their alliance in Bihar. When asked about Das’s allegation that the RJD and the BJP had reached a secret deal and that the Congress would contest all the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in the next parliamentary polls, Lalu retorted, “Bhakta Charan is a ‘Bhakchonhar’ (imprudent person).”
Lalu, in fact, reminded people about the Congress’s poor strike rate in the 2020 assembly polls in Bihar, which paved the way for the return of Nitish Kumar-led NDA government to power. The Congress was allotted 70 seats as part of seat-sharing among the grand alliance partners, but could win only 19 seats.
Reacting to Lalu’s remarks, Congress MLA Shakeel Ahmed said his derogatory statement for Das exhibited his anti-Dalit mentality and autocratic attitude towards the depressed sections of the society. “Lalu is aware of Das’ political journey as a cabinet minister in the 90s and having served as MLA and MP several times. Above all, he is the state in-charge of a national party. So, his (Lalu’s) remarks are highly objectionable,” he said.
Congress state spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari said Lalu’s statement was not against Das, but the Dalit community. “Lalu should apologise from the members of Dalit community,” he added.
BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said Lalu spoke his mind and showed his anger and frustration that he had to suffer for years together due to the Congress. In fact, Lalu was booked in fodder scam cases during Congress regime at the Centre. CBI filed chargesheet against him during the same regime and he had to go to jail for the first time at the behest of the Congress, the BJP’s OBC Morcha national general secretary said.
JD(U) spokesperson Abhishek Jha said Lalu’s statement is shameful. “It’s high time the Congress leadership should ponder over it as the party’s state in-charge has been showed in demeaning manner by the RJD’s top leader,” he added.
Former deputy CM and BJP Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi also condemned the RJD chief’s statement against Das. In a tweet, SuMo, however, said that it would not affect the relationship between the RJD and the Congress as the latter would continue to suffer humiliation at the behest of the former.