Patna: Lalu Prasad Yadav plans a grand comeback at a “parivartan” rally in Patna today. And he is confident that the rally’s venue, the Gandhi Maidan, will be overflowing with his supporters when he reaches there.
This show of strength, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief insists, will prove that his political rival and current Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar “is enjoying his last few days in power.” Speaking to NDTV, Mr Yadav also said that “Nitish Kumar will be history soon.”
The rally is expected to start around 1 pm, and an impressive number of people have gathered at the venue already. Many of them have come to the city on the 13 trains that were specially booked by the RJD to bring in people from different destinations in Bihar and Jharkhand. The party paid the Railways Rs. 1.11 crore for this. All trains were reportedly packed to capacity when they reached Patna.
The RJD says the rally is aimed at bringing change in Bihar. But Lalu’s rivals say it’s an excuse to install his two sons, Tejpratap and Tejasvi, in positions of prominence in the RJD.
The former Bihar CM who has two sons and seven daughters is not in the least apologetic. “When they are my children do you want to them to hold a lotus (the BJP’s symbol) or arrow (the symbol of the ruling Janata Dal- United)? It is natural that they will hold lanterns and canvas for the RJD,” he said yesterday. The lantern is the RJD’s political symbol.
Lalu’s son elder Tejpratap runs an automobile business in Aurangabad. They younger one, Tejasvi, is a former cricketer who was once also part of the Delhi Daredevils IPL team, but never got a chance to play in the tournament.
When Mr Yadav’s first born, daughter Misa Bharti, reached the Gandhi Maidan venue yesterday and told reporters that she too was interested in a political career, the RJD chief fondly commented that both daughters and sons had a right to enter politics.
