Aiming to hit another home run in Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav has slammed the “dictatorial” government at the Centre and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must be ousted from power.
“We have to oust the dictatorial government. Hatana hai, Modi ko hatana hai,” RJD chief Lalu Prasad said on Wednesday when asked by reporters about the 2024 general elections, which the Modi-led central government is seeking to win for the third time. Lalu Prasad returned to Patna from Delhi on Wednesday and met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the first time since RJD returned to power in the state where Kumar formed a new Mahagathbandhan government after breaking the alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswhi Yadav who is Lalu Prasad’s son took to Twitter shared pictures of the meeting between the two leaders.
“Respected chief minister Nitish Kumar ji reached to meet the national president (RJD) Lalu Prasad Yadav,” Tejaswi tweeted. Tej Pratap Yadav and Rabri Devi were also present on the occasion.
Before taking oath as chief minister, Nitish Kumar had spoken with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and discussed the political developments. Kumar and his deputy – RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav took oath on August 10.
Earlier, when Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with BJP, Lalu Yadav hailed Kumar for his decision to split from the NDA and reunite with the Mahagathbandhan to form the new government in the state.
In July, Lalu Prasad, who has been out from prison on bail from April last year in the fodder scam case, was admitted to the AIIMS hospital in New Delhi after he suffered a fracture in his shoulder. The RJD leader was discharged on July 22.
A total of 31 ministers were inducted into the Bihar cabinet from various parties that are part of the Mahagathbandhan or the Grand Alliance in the state.
On August 16, the new Ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan at Raj Bhavan.
The RJD got 16 ministerial berths while the Janata Dal (United) got 11.
From RJD, Deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav’s brother Tej Pratap Yadav, Samir Kumar Mahaseth, Chandrashekhar, Kumar Sarvajeet, Lalit Yadav, Surendra Prasad Yadav, Ramanand Yadav, Jitendra Kumar Rai, Anita Devi and Sudhakar Singh and Alok Mehta took oath.
Congress legislators Afaque Alam and Murari Lal Gautam were inducted into the cabinet as ministers, while Hindustani Awam Morcha’s Santosh Suman was also sworn in.
The Bihar Grand Alliance has a combined strength of 163. Its effective strength climbed to 164 after Independent MLA Sumit Kumar Singh extended its support to Nitish Kumar. The new government is likely to prove majority in the Bihar assembly on August 24.