PATNA: Bihar’s political discourse slumped a notch further on Sunday when RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav attacked chief minister Nitish Kumar saying the latter’s tomb would be built at Rajgir, where the CM was on a visit, and the ruling JD(U) leaders hit back by saying that the “corrupt and convicted” Lalu’s tomb would be in a jail.
Two days after JD(U) and RJD sparred bitterly over an old photograph of Yadav’s son Tejaswi Yadav with an unknown young woman in an allegedly “drunken partying moment,” the latest exchange of words between Lalu and JD(U) leaders left many in Bihar shocked.
The RJD chief made the controversial comments while attacking his ally-turned-rival Nitish Kumar on the “toilet scam” and the Srijan NGO scam that has roiled the state’s politics. Kumar was on a personal visit to Rajgir, a health resort town in his home district of Nalanda.
“Where else will he (Kumar) go? His tomb will be built there,” said Lalu when a journalist told him of Kumar’s visit to Rajgir. Just a day ago, the RJD chief had accused Kumar of having brought down the level of political discourse in Bihar. He also demanded a probe should be conducted in every district of the state to unearth toilet construction scams like in Patna district.
Lalu also predicted the break-up of the JD(U)-BJP alliance “very soon” and said he is using “tantra-mantra” (black magic) to ensure the fall of his political rivals. Incidentally, Lalu had appointed well-known astrologer Shankar Charan Tripathy as RJD’s national spokesperson a day ago.
“A tomb is built for everyone in due course. Thousands will gather at Nitish Kumar’s tomb to offer floral tributes, but the corrupt and convicted Lalu Yadav’s tomb will be built in a jail, where nobody would come for similar honours,” said JD(U) spokesperson and MLC Sanjay Singh.
Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi of BJP said Lalu’s comments signified his “loss of mental equilibrium” due to his repeated engagements at the courts and the probe agencies. “The ongoing fodder scam trials and investigations into his family’s huge benami assets have clearly left him deeply frustrated and dejected,” said Modi.