Poster demanding ‘Bharat Ratna’ for Lalu Prasad appears in Patna. NDA reacts

The poster, signed by an office bearer of the RJD’s SC/ST cell, was put up close to the party’s Birchand Patel Marg office in Patna, according to PTI.

The slogan on the poster read: “Leader of social justice and the voice of Bihar Lalu Prasad be conferred with Bharat Ratna”. It also featured a photograph of the RJD supremo captioned “Messiah! Our God!” HT cannot independently verify this poster.

Reacting to it, JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad claimed that this was an insult to “the Bharat Ratna”.

Also Read | Delhi court grants bail to RJD’s Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi in land-for-jobs case

“I would have treated it as a joke had we been close to the festival of Holi. But since the demand has been made by RJD in earnest, I would urge them not to insult (tauheen) the Bharat Ratna,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.

JD(U) state spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar also ridiculed the demand and questioned why Lalu Prasad should be conferred with a Bharat Ratna.

“Why should Lalu ji get a Bharat Ratna? The high standards of corruption, casteism, dynasty politics and patronage to criminals set by him would make any Ratna (jewel) lose its sheen out of shame,” he alleged.

Also Read | BJP counters Lalu’s claim of Modi govt’s fall by August: ‘Day dream, take rest’

Former state BJP president and deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary said that Lalu Prasad should be given the title of “Loot Ratna”.

“In recognition of his financial wrongdoings, Lalu Prasad be given the title of Loot Ratna.”

The RJD, however, responded to the episode by highlighting that Yadav gave voice to those marginalised.

“Talk to any rickshaw puller or labourer in Bihar. He will tell you that it was Lalu ji who gave them a voice. All OBC and Dalit leaders of Bihar, be they from any party, owe their political fortunes to the social revolution brought in by our leader,” RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmed said, according to PTI.

The Congress, which is in alliance partner with the RJD in the INDIA bloc, offered a guarded response.

“Every party has such feelings about its leader. There is nothing unusual about it. Moreover, we cannot deny the fact that among all leaders in Bihar, Lalu has the largest support base,” said state Congress media cell in-charge Rajesh Rathore was quoted as saying by PTI.

Prasad is currently serving sentences in a number of fodder scam cases and is currently out on bail. He has also been disqualified from contesting polls on account of convictions in the cases.

Notably, last month, a poster demanding the highest civilian honour for Nitish Kumar, had been put up outside his JD(U)’s office, according to PTI.

Get Current Updates on…

See more