RJD president Lalu Prasad on Friday called the Narendra Modi government backed by NDA at the Centre "weak" and claimed that it could "fall in August".
Union Minister Nityanand Rai dismissed Prasad's comments and said that he was "hallucinating" and that the recent general elections were a reaffirmation of the people's faith in Modi's leadership.
What Did Lalu Prasad Say?
Lalu Prasad during an event organised to commemorate 28 years of the formation of his party, which he founded by splitting the Janata Dal made the comments against the NDA government at the Centre.
Prasad, who was on stage with his son Tejashwi Yadav addressing an the workers of RJD said, "the Modi government is weak (kamzor). It can fall any time. It can fall in August".
He urged party workers to be prepared for such a scenario. He highlighted that in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the RJD had increased its seat count and vote share compared to five years ago.
"For quite some time, we have been the single largest party in the Bihar assembly. Unlike many others, we have never compromised on ideology," said Prasad, a staunch opponent of the BJP, recalling his tenure and achievements, including the arrest of Lal Krishna Advani in 1990.
Prasad made the remark at a time most leaders of the NDA were at a BJP function where the newly inducted Union ministers, from Bihar, were felicitated.
How Did BJP React?
Reacting to Prasad's statements later, Union Minister Nityanand Rai, a former Bihar BJP president, accused the RJD supremo of hallucinating, using a colloquial Hindi phrase "Mungeri Lal ke hasin sapne."
"People have voted for Modi, who is now serving a record third term. Under his leadership and guided by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the NDA in Bihar will continue to defeat the opposition, which was disgraced during RJD's rule," Rai said.
In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP fell short of majority and a new government was formed with the help of allies like JD(U), headed by Nitish Kumar, who has been in and out of NDA more than once in the last one decade.
A long-time rival of Prasad, Kumar has recently emphasised his commitment to stability and unity within the BJP-led NDA, which also includes Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, and Upendra Kushwaha, all of whom have had disagreements with the JD(U) leader.
(With PTI inputs)
