‘Felt like cutting his hand’: Misa Bharti on Ram Kripal Yadav joining BJP

Patna, Jan 19: Lalu Yadav's daughter and Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) leader Misa Bharti stirred a row after claiming that she wanted to chop off Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav's hands for joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"He (Ram Kripal Yadav) used to cut the chaff. We had huge respect for him. However, we stopped respecting him when he went on to join hands with Sushil Kumar Modi. At that time I felt like cutting his hands from the same chaff cutting machine," Bharti said while addressing a gathering in Patna's Bikram area on January 16.
Bharti said that she is "confident of her win this time" as she didn't get enough time to prepare during 2014 polls.

Ram Kripal, once a close aide of Lalu Prasad. After being denied a ticket from Patliputra, he quit the party and joined BJP in 2014. He went on to contest and win the Patliputra seat in Lok Sabha election 2014, defeating Bharti.

The 61-year-old had endorsed PM Narendra Modi as "the man India is looking up to".

"I have been a dedicated worker of the RJD for years but was forced to take this step, it was painful but I had no choice," he had said at the time.

Ram Kripal started his life as a shop owner and made his move slowly by entering politics at an urban body election to become the deputy mayor of Patna. He became a member of the Bihar Legislative Council in 1992, won a by-election to the Lok Sabha in 1993.