Lalu should not forget that he is out on bail, says Paswan

Patna, Aug 19: Reacting angrily to 'weathercock' jibe at him, the LJP supremo and Union minister Ramvilas Paswan on Tuesday reminded RJD chief Lalu Prasad that he was out on bail in the fodder scam in which he was convicted by a designed CBI court to five years imprisonment last year.

"Prasad should be mindful of the fact that he is out on bail in the fodder scam," Paswan told reporters. On the RJD chief's repeated barbs at him for being a 'weathercock' for sensing wind to choose ally to serve his political ends, he said that if he was a 'weather scientist' then Prasad happened to be an 'expert of jails', Paswan said referring to Prasad's arrest on a number of occasions in his long political career.

Paswan, who is the Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister in the NDA government at the Centre, took strong exception to the RJD supremo attacking his son Chirag Paswan, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Jamui and said that it does not behove well on the senior leader to target a young leader.

Prasad is too senior to Chirag to attack him politically, the LJP supremo said and asked the former to leave that job to his son Tejaswi Yadav. The Union Minister also took potshot at the former chief minister Nitish Kumar for keeping mum over the RJD supremo's snide remarks that he could not have kicked away the senior JD(U) leader when he came to sit on his feet, he said referring to Kumar forging an alliance with the RJD to take on BJP in Bihar.

"It's a highly objectionable remark which Kumar should have countered vigorously, but he is shamelessly keeping mum over it," Paswan said.

"Prasad is consciously abusing the senior JD(U) leader, but the latter has no choice but to keep quiet for the sake of sticking to power in Bihar," he said.

The LJP supremo, who actively campaigned for the NDA candidates on the final day of electioneering for August 21 bypolls on ten assembly seats in Bihar, claimed that the NDA candidates will sweep the polls on all ten seats to replicate its performance in the general elections three months ago.

"A strong wave is sweeping Bihar in favour of the NDA and the results will prove yet again on August 25 next when the BJP-led alliance goes on to win all 10 seats," Paswan, who joined NDA ahead of general elections and bagged six seats as many as won together by the RJD and JD(U), said.

PTI