Beef row: Lalu insulted Yadavs, says Modi

Munger/ Begusarai, Oct 8: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched a blistering attack on RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, saying his beef eating remark is an "abuse" and "huge insult" to Yaduvanshis (Yadav clan) and asked people of Bihar to reject the grand secular alliance warning it will bring jungle raj 2".

Modi, who has been silent on the lynching of a man in Dadri over rumours of eating beef despite widespread outrage, scoffed at Lalu's explanation that he made the beef remarks under the influence of some "shaitan" (devil).

"I wonder the devil got only his (Lalu) body to enter. I want to know how the shaitan got the address (of Lalu). The devil got no other body in entire Bihar, India and the whole world except that of his. And he also welcomed the devil as if some relative has come.

Addressing rallies in Munger, Begusarai and Samastipur, Modi castigated the RJD chief over his 'Hindus also eat beef' remark. "What all is he saying. What all Yadavs eat? Whatever position Lalu rose to, it was because of these Yaduvanshis and he insulted them. What kind of abuses you are hurling at them.

Is it not an insult of Yadavs and Bihar? Do not humiliate the Yaduvanshis so much? Laluji, these Yaduvanshis helped you to come to power," said Modi. Insisting that Lalu cannot absolve himself of his beef remark, he said,"People of Bihar have to find out why the devil came to Lalu only.

What were his bad habits due to which it happened. Do we have place for such people in Bihar. "So far we were fighting (political rivals) human beings. Now a devil has entered a human body which is after us."

The RJD chief, who had made the controversial remark in the aftermatch of the Dadri lynching, made a quick about turn, saying his tongue seemed to have been possessed by the devil in a moment of weakness.

The remarks had created a consternation in the grand alliance as the leaders felt that this could help BJP polarise votes in its favour. Amid a realisation that an undivided Muslim-Yadav combination could lead to problems for it, BJP-led NDA is keen to counter the RJD chief's influence in the community.

Referring to Dwarka connection of Lord Krishna in Gujarat, Modi projected Lalu as a leader who does not honour "true Yaduvanshi tradition" and alleged that he not only insulted them but everybody in Bihar.

"I come from the land of Gujarat. Dwarka is the land of Lord Krishna where people worship cows. They brought white revolution. As as far the question of following the true Yaduvanshi tradition is concerned, it being done there. And here the leaders are meting out this kind of insult to Yaduvanshis.

What kind of abuses he is heaping on them? Calling the grand alliance of JDU-RJD and Congress a "mahaswarthgathbandhan (alliance of great opportunism), Modi asked the electorate to reject them noting that they ruled the state for 60 years and were responsible for its backwardness. "It is time that people vote for the vikas raj (development) of the BJP. This election is a fight between jungle raj and vikas raj," he said.

PTI