Now JD(U) attacks Lalu over disrespect to Ambedkar

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) on Sunday lambasted RJD president Lalu Prasad for alleged disrespect to Babasaheb Ambedkar by letting a portrait of the Dalit icon placed at his feet.

JD(U) national general secretary Shyam Rajak, who had returned to the party last year after quitting the RJD, vented spleen against his former boss at a press conference.

Referring to a video of Prasad's 78th birthday celebrations last week, which has gone viral on social media, Rajak said "the RJD supremo demonstrated his pettiness for which he will never be forgiven by the people of Bihar".

Rajak, who has held ministerial berths in governments of both RJD and JD(U), also claimed that "Nitish Kumar's 20 years long tenure has been devoted to the uplift of all deprived sections in general and Dalits in particular. The impact of his policies is felt on the ground".

The JD(U) leader was presiding over a function where several persons from Phulwari were inducted into the party.

Notably, Rajak has represented Phulwari several times but was restrained from entering the fray in 2020 by the RJD which gave away the seat to alliance partner CPI(ML).

The JD(U) general secretary's outburst against Prasad, the arch rival of the CM, came a day after the BJP fulminated against the RJD president.

However, RJD spokesman Shakti Yadav has blamed the controversy on the "angle of the camera" claiming that the person who had brought the portrait of Ambedkar to Prasad's house was "still holding it in his hands".

Yadav has also insisted that Prasad, who suffers from multiple ailments, had placed his feet on a sofa "in keeping with medical advice".

Meanwhile, the BJP, which considers the RJD its principal rival in the upcoming assembly polls, has stepped up its attack on Prasad. In a statement, the state BJP has announced that its "Scheduled Castes Morcha" will burn an effigy of the RJD supremo in the evening.