Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav accepted on Wednesday that not aligning with the Congress in the 2009 General Elections was a mistake.
He also dismissed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as a threat and said that the JD(U) was not a factor in Bihar.
Lalu told a TV channel, “Not aligning with the Congress was a mistake.”
Lalu has been in talks with the Congress regarding an alliance with the grand old party for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He has met Congress president and vice president, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi respectively couple of times in the recent past.
The Lok Sabha polls is expected to be held in April and May, with the new government being formed in May this year.
Meanwhile, speculation is rife that Ramvilas Paswan may tie up with the BJP, even though Lalu has urged the Lok Janshakti Party to join hands with the RJD and the Congress to fight communal forces. LJP was part of the NDA camp during Atal Bihari Vajpayee`s regime. He quit the NDA a month or so after the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The LJP is reportedly unhappy about the number of seats that has been offered to it in Bihar by the Congress and the RJD for LS polls.
Lalu also took a dig at BJP`s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who has given a call for `Congress-free India` and is urging voters in rallies after rallies to give him one chance. The former Bihar CM said that the call should be `with-Congress India`.
Lalu had got a scare on Monday when it was reported that 13 RJD MLAs had formed a separate faction and may join the JD(U). However, yesterday RJD chief asserted that nine of the 13 legislators who reportedly broke away have denied parting ways.
He marched to the Bihar Assembly premises along with the nine MLAs as also five other RJD legislators and handed over a letter to Assembly Secretary Phool Jha, demanding that Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary withdraw the Assembly notification recognising the breakaway faction as a separate group.
RJD has 22 MLAs in the state Assembly. Lalu had also blamed Nitish Kumar for trying to split his party. But the Bihar CM denied the allegations and said he was not aware of what was going on.
