Senior BJP leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi stunned everyone here when he showered encomiums on RJD president Lalu Prasad, who is serving jail sentence in Ranchi.

“It’s true that we (Modi and Lalu) have been strong opponents. It’s equally true that I was one of the petitioners in the fodder scam, and because of which, Lalu is today serving a jail sentence. But it’s also true that as a person, Lalu is good at heart. Though I am responsible for his incarceration, but he has never shown any animosity towards me whenever we met either in the Bihar Assembly or Parliament,” said Sushil Modi, in a rare praise for his arch-rival.

Speaking at a media event here in the state capital, Modi said he knew Lalu since 1969. “I can say with utmost sincerity that I know Lalu better than Rabri Devi, as I have known him for the last 49 years. We were student leaders at Patna University in the early 70's. Then we went to jail during Emergency. We fought the Congress together. Later, when he became Bihar chief minister, I was the Leader of the Opposition and was instrumental in his conviction and incarceration in the fodder scam. But he never got angry with me one bit,” said Modi, taking the audience by complete surprise.

Modi was, however, highly critical of his party MP from Patna Sahib, Shatrughan Sinha, who has been training guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi quite often. “Bihari Babu is all set to grab ‘lantern’ (symbol of RJD),” said Modi about Shatru’s plan to cross over the fence.

“But the person, who was made BJP MP on four occasions, will surely bite the dust during the 2019 parliamentary polls. The voters are just waiting to punish Shatrughan for backstabbing the BJP,” said Modi.