Nitish Kumar became minister in Centre because of me, claims RJD chief Lalu Yadav

While describing his political journey, on the occasion of Rashtriya Janata Dal's silver jubilee celebrations, the party's supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav claimed how he played a vital role in making Nitish Kumar a minister in the Union Cabinet during the NDA government led by Atal Bihar Vajpayee, writes ETV Bharat Bihar Bureau Chief Amit Bhelari.

Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on Monday revealed that because of him, Nitish Kumar was made a minister in the Centre. Yadav said this during the silver jubilee celebration of the party in which he addressed the party workers from Delhi through virtual mode. Describing his political journey, he said how he played a pivotal role in making five Prime Ministers of the country. Yadav stressed how he helped Nitish to become the minister of agriculture in the Union Cabinet during the NDA government led by Atal Bihar Vajpayee.

“I have played an important role even in the making of Prime Ministers, at least five PMs. We used to help others. That time Nitish was very anxious to become the minister and because of me, he was made Agriculture Minister in the Union Cabinet,” Yadav said addressing the RJD workers.

All the senior leaders of the party were present in the Patna RJD office including his younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav who is currently leading the party from the front. RJD state unit president Jagdanand Singh, vice president of the party Shivanand Tiwari, eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav and several other senior leaders were also present including Shyam Rajak and Abdul Bari Siddiqui.

Even in 2015 when RJD, JD(U) and Congress had formed the government, RJD was the single largest party despite that Yadav offered Nitish to become the Chief Minister. Even in the 2020 assembly elections, the RJD emerged as the single largest party, though NDA formed the government. The RJD supremo also used the occasion of the party's foundation day to attack both Bihar and NDA government at the centre. He slammed the central government for increasing fuel prices in the country.

“I still remember, when I was the CM of Bihar, I had gone to my office by cycle showing my protest against the rising fuel prices. Inflation has broken the backbone of the common man. The increase in the petrol price badly affects the poor as the price of essential commodities automatically goes high. We are going through a serious financial crisis, which has already taken us thousand years back. Many people lost their lives during the pandemic and it is very difficult to compensate for everything now,” Yadav said while accompanied by his wife Rabri Devi and eldest daughter Misa Bharti in Delhi.

Yadav was addressing the RJD workers after a gap of four years. Ever since he has been granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court on April 30, he has been staying at the residence of his eldest daughter Misa Bharti in Delhi. He also expressed his pain of not being a part of the 2020 state assembly elections.

“It was really painful for me to miss the 2020 assembly elections. It was a tormented moment for me. However, RJD always worked hard to ensure that the downtrodden people get their voices heard and this is what I did in my entire political career. I ensured that deprived people reach the polling booth to cast their votes. This has brought a big change and today everyone is equal. I must say that RJD has a bright future. The party performed better than I expected in the 2020 assembly elections. In the beginning, I wasn't sure about Tejashwi but he really did it,” Yadav stressed. He also announced that soon he will be back in Patna and will make his presence in every district of Bihar.

Yadav went on say: "I am getting better day by day and very soon will be in Patna. I will also make my presence in every district of Bihar. We need to focus on being united and make the party stronger." Before Yadav, even Tejashwi also slammed the Nitish Kumar government in his speech alleging rampant corruption in the state.

However, Patna based political expert Dr Sanjay Kumar said that the comeback of Lalu Yadav will boost the morale of the RJD workers and leaders. “Lalu ji has given the message that the party has a bright future under the leadership of Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. This time Lalu ji's speech was also related to development as he also talked about the financial crisis. The gist of his speech was very clear that RJD, in coming days, will form the government,“ Dr Sanjay said.

It may be mentioned here that the RJD supermo was the last speaker of the function and he ended his speech cutting a cake with his wife Rabri Devi and daughter Misa Bharti.

The RJD was formed on July 5, 1997, after Yadav parted ways from Janata Dal. The name of the party, Rashtriya Janata Dal was given by former socialist stalwart Ramakrishna Hegde.