PATNA: With the Opposition bloc ‘INDIA’ yet to resolve the contentious issue of deciding its Prime Ministerial face for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, RJD chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday heaped praise on former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his adherence to the principle of social justice.
Speaking on the occasion of Bihar's first chief minister Sri Krishna Singh's birth anniversary at the Congress headquarters here, Lalu said, "We have kept the flag of social justice high and so Rahul is also doing."
He also praised Rahul for announcing that a caste-based survey would be conducted in the entire country if the 'INDIA' alliance is voted to power at the centre in 2024. The RJD president also contended that the Prime Ministerial candidate for the 'INDIA' alliance would be decided without any difficulty.
Incidentally, Lalu did not talk about alliance partner and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a single time when he was applauding Rahul for his 'adherence' to the principle of social justice and his announcement for the caste-based survey.
Lalu said that the BJP was desperate after the release of the caste-based survey and questioned how it was possible for any caste having a population of one per cent to demand more posts. The RJD supremo claimed that power would be "shared in proportion" to the population of various castes and that the BJP would be moved out of power.
This was Lalu's first visit to the Congress headquarters 'Sadaqat Ashram' after six years. Congress leaders said that the last time Lalu had visited Sadaquat Ashram was in 2017.
"We are working together and we are going to organise a 'Remove BJP, Save Country' rally in the state capital. The wave of change will emanating from there and it will sweep the entire country as BJP is set to suffer a crushing defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha election," Lalu said.
He claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and RSS would not be able to do anything in the election.
Lalu also claimed that the BJP knew well it would lose in assembly elections across the five states to be held in November and would also suffer defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. He contended that it was the reason central agencies like ED, CBI and the Income Tax department were conducting raids on the premises of opposition leaders and lodging cases against them.
