'Pray that Modi, Nitish blessed with children', Lalu responds to PM's 'parivarwad' comments

Image Source : PTI (FILE)
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav addresses the party meeting in Patna

Highlights

RJD is mainly controlled by Lalu's family. His wife Rabri Devi & 3 children are in active politics
His sons Tejashwi & Tej Pratap are sitting MLAs while daughter Misa Bharti is a Rajya Sabha MP
His sons were made Ministers in the Mahagathbandhan govt in 2015. Tejashwi had served as Deputy CM

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav has slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments on 'parivarwad' (dynasty politics) in politics. Responding to the Prime Minister's criticism, Lalu said that he will pray to God that PM Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar get children so that they indulge in 'parivarwad'.

"Modi never had any children. Nitish has a son who is averse to politics. One can only pray that they are blessed with offspring who can carry forward their political legacy," Lalu told reporters at his residence in Patna.

Lalu served as the CM of Bihar twice -- March 10, 1990 to March 28, 1995 and April 4, 1995 to July 25, 1997. His wife Rabri Devi was made the CM when Lalu had to step down following his arrest in the multi-crore fodder scam. She continued till the RJD's defeat in 2005 at the hands of the JD(U)-BJP combine.

Lalu also holds a record of being the longest-serving president of any political party in the country. The RJD was floated by Lalu on July 5, 1997. The party was formed as a breakaway of Janata Dal. Lalu is serving as its president since then. The party is mainly controlled by Lalu's family. His sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap are MLAs and his daughter Misa Bharti is a Rajya Sabha MP. Lalu has nine children.

When the Mahagathbandhan (an alliance of RJD, Nitish's JDU and Congress) formed government in Bihar in 2015, Lalu's younger son Tejashwi was made the Deputy Chief Minister and Tej Pratap was given the charge of Health department. Tejashwi was then 26 years old, thus becoming the youngest Deputy CM of any state in the country. Tejashwi Yadav was also allocated the portfolios of PWD, forest and environment. It is worth mentioning here that the Constitution provides that the minimum age for becoming a candidate for Lok Sabha or Legislative Assemblies shall be 25 years. BJP had then charged that Tejashwi and Tej Pratap were given ministries because of their family background and not talent.

However, the alliance failed within 18 months, leading to the collapse of the Mahagathbandhan government as there were a series of corruption charges against Lalu's sons.

After the RJD supremo was sent to jail following his conviction in fodder scam cases in 2017, Tejashwi took the charge of the party. When Assembly elections were held in Bihar in 2020, he was named the party's chief ministerial candidate despite reservations by several alliance partners including the Congress.

Tejashwi, currently the leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, is seen as the political heir of Lalu. Tejashwi is a second term MLA.

Lalu's response came on PM Modi's remarks criticising dynasty politics in an interview with news agency ANI. The Prime Minister had also praised Lalu's arch-rival Nitish Kumar for not bringing any family member into politics.

"I am for the society. When I say fake socialism, it is 'Parivarwad'. Do you see Lohia's family anywhere? He was a socialist; do you see the family of George Fernandes? He was also a Samajwadi. Nitish Babu, he is working with us, he is also a socialist. Do you see his family?" PM Modi had said.

"When a party is run for generations by a family, there's only dynasty, not dynamics. Starting from J&K, where there are two parties run by two separate families, you can see a similar trend in Haryana, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Dynastic politics is the biggest enemy of democracy," PM Modi had added.