New Delhi :
In a show of strength, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav organised a rally which was attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Samjawadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Rebel JD(U) leader sharad Yadav and Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and CP Joshi. The rally was held at Gandhi Maidan.
Former deputy chief minister and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tejashwi Yadav cautioned people, saying that communal forces want to disturb peace.
He also attacked Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, terming him as not a “good uncleâ€. He said the Bihar chief minister has joined hands with the killers of “Mahatama Gandhi†for the sake of power.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad has already said the ‘BJP bhagao desh bachao’ rally would herald the decline of the BJP-led NDA in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, who is staring at an expulsion from the party for defying orders of not to attend the rally, was greeted warmly by Prasad who embraced him on the dais.
Yadav was accompanied by suspended JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar.
JD(U) leader K C Tyagi, in a letter to Yadav, had asked him to skip the rally and if he attends it would mean that he has quit the party voluntarily.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress general secretary C P Joshi were present at the rally.
The RJD chief and his wife Rabri Devi greeted Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee and their son Tejaswi Yadav touched her feet.
#WATCH: Visuals from RJD's 'BJP bhagao, Desh bachao' rally in Patna today. pic.twitter.com/HWRmGvWdu6
— ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2017
CPI’s general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy and secretary D Raja were present on the dais while JMM chief and former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, and JVM president Babulal Marandi were attended the rally.
NCP leader and MP Tariq Anwar was also present.
Prasad, his wife, sons Tejaswi and Tej Pratap Yadav, and daughter Misa Bharti, a Rajya Sabha MP were seated on the front row of the VVIP dais greeting leaders from other parties on their arrival.
A large number of people have assembled at the rally.
Early speakers including Raghubansh Prasad Singh, AbdulBari Siddiwui, Shivanand Tiwari and others criticised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for breaking the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ the grand alliance and joining hands with the BJP to form a new government in the state.
#WATCH: Visuals from RJD's rally in Patna, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee greets CPI leader D Raja. pic.twitter.com/5PCh5nzWjj
— ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2017
They also showered praise on Prasad’s son and former deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav, describing him as the “future leader of Bihar.†(With PTI Inputs)
