Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal national vice president Shivanand Tiwary on Thursday expressed bewilderment over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charge that the party had "opposed" Bharat Ratna for Karpoori Thakur, mentor of RJD's founding president Lalu Prasad. The PM had made the allegation against RJD and its ally Congress at a rally in Bihar's Jamui district.
"The Congress-RJD combine has, at every opportunity, hurt the pride of Bihar. They had insulted Karpoori Thakur. When our government conferred Bharat Ratna on Karpoori Thakur recently, they opposed it," Modi had told the rally. Reacting to the statement, Tiwary, a veteran socialist who has known Thakur at close quarters, told PTI: "It is not possible for the RJD to have opposed Bharat Ratna to the former Bihar Chief Minister".
"The party has been, as a matter of fact, demanding the highest civilian honour for the late leader whom Lalu Prasad has always held in high esteem. The RJD president often recalls having the ailing Thakur's head in his lap when his mentor breathed his last," he said. The former Rajya Sabha MP said another "false claim" by the PM was that the RJD had opposed construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
"What we have always criticised was the illegal razing of the disputed site at Ayodhya," Tiwary said. He alleged: "One feels that the Prime Minister has lost his mental balance. He has been in power for 10 years and seems to have no achievements. He spent almost his entire speech fulminating against political opponents".
