"Wrong to stay at PM residence without wife": Lalu Prasad Yadav on why he advised Rahul Gandhi to get married

Addressing a joint press conference after the mega opposition parties meeting in Patna on June 23, Lalu Prasad Yadav had advised Rahul Gandhi to get married. The aging septuagenarian today clarified the reason behind his advice.

Patna/New Delhi:RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday said that he asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to marry as "a Prime Minister should not be without a wife".

Responding to reporters on who would be the leader of the anti-BJP parties and his earlier advice to Gandhi to get married, Lalu Yadav said "whoever becomes the PM should not be without a wife". In an apparent dig at PM Narendra Modi, Lalu Yadav went on to say that it is "wrong to stay at the Prime Minister's residence without a wife. This should end. It is very wrong".

While addressing a joint press conference in Patna after the mega opposition meeting on June 23, Lalu Yadav in a light-hearted moment advised him to get married soon. He told that his mother, Sonia Gandhi had told him to speak to Gandhi in this regard. "You should get married soon. There is still time. Your mummy said you don't listen to her. Get married and we all will attend the wedding ceremony," he had said. Gandhi promptly replied: "Now that you have said it, it will happen".

The former Bihar chief minister said that the opposition parties are targeting to win 300 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The next meeting of the opposition parties will be held in Bengaluru, he said. Lalu Prasad has arrived in Delhi for blood tests. He is under doctor's supervision after returning from Singapore where he had undergone kidney transplant.

Commenting on Maharashtra crisis, he said that NCP supremo Sharad Pawar is a strong leader. There is no retirement in politics, he said in response to Ajit Pawar's advice to his uncle to retire. He addressed PM Modi as the 'director of corrupt people'. "Now everyone has seen that the one whom the PM had called corrupt, has been made a minister in Maharashtra," he added.