'Satta ka laalchi hai Nitish Kumar': Lalu Yadav hits out at Bihar CM

A day after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave a 75-minute 'explanation' over his decision to quit Mahagathbandhan and side with the BJP, Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad Yadav called him a 'paltu ram' (turncoat) greedy for power, who was behind the cases against the Yadav clan.

"Satta ka laalchi hai Nitish Kumar… paltu ram hai (Nitish Kumar is greedy for power, he's a turncoat)," said Lalu, during an hour-long news conference at his 10, Circular Road resident in Patna on Tuesday. " It is good that we got separated," Lalu added.

Lalu alleged that Nitish was with the BJP since the beginning. "I always knew it. But somehow kept repeating to my self that Nitish will not do something like this. But that was my foolishness," the RJD supremo, currently facing trial in the fodder scam cases, said. Lalu, in fact, said that it was Nitish who had conspired to get the case lodged against him. "Isme koi confusion hai kya ki Nitish Kumar ne case karwaya hai? It is a murder of democracy (Is there any confusion that this case was Nitish's planning?)," he said.

On the issue of his son and former deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav's resignation over corruption allegations, Lalu said, "They are afraid of Tejashwi's rising popularity. Nitish has only made him a scapegoat… Had Tejashwi resigned, would Nitish have not gone with the BJP? It was all a fixed match."

Replying to Nitish's comment that Lalu's was caste politics while he had a mass base. "Doesn't he remember his early days when he failed to win the MLA or MP elections? I was not willing to support his leadership but gave in when Mulayam Singh Yadav pitched for him. Had I fought on all 243 seats, Nitish would have been limited to 31," Lalu said.

He added, "Even in 2015 when the Manjhi episode was on… he was a lost case, a gone case… but we supported him to return to power. Maine Nitish ko hamesha aage badhaya hai (I have always encouraged him)."

The RJD boss made an almost pointwise rebuttal of the allegations made by Nitish the previous day. "We accommodated him on seats where we were strong. But his mind was crooked. He had even planned that if Congress gets 40 seats, they will form a government without Lalu," he claimed.

Commenting on the 20 month Mahagathbandhan government run by the RJD-JD(U)-Congress combine till July 26, when Nitish tendered a surprise resignation only to return to the chair with the help of the BJP, Lalu said his party never created any troubles for the alliance.

"In 20 months, Nitish formed no coordination committee of common minimum programme of the three parties to run the government. He says I called collectors and SPs. Yes I called them. The government was on Mahagathbandhan and we had thousands of poor people coming to us with their pleas. You never even let one poor person enter your home saying they used to smell bad," Lalu said adding, "Zyada mat bolwao nahi to asli baat bol denge (Don't make me talk too much, otherwise I'll end up spilling the beans)."

The RJD has also made an offer to Sharad Yadav to join the Opposition's fight against the government. "Sharad has made Nitish but now even he is not supporting him. Nitish has surrendered. But we will remove Narendra Modi in 2019," Lalu said but did not reply to the query on who will be the face of the Opposition in 2019.

Lalu said the new government was now indulging in political vendetta targeting his party's lawmakers such as Bhai Virendra, who were vocal against them.