Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh
Credit: PTI Photo
Patna: Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan on Saturday slammed Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav for asking Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to pull out of the BJP-led NDA.
The former JD(U) president also chided Yadav for aligning with Congress, reminding him that his late father Mulayam Singh Yadav had earned his spurs opposing that party.
Lalan was responding to queries from journalists about the statement given by the former Uttar Pradesh CM on Friday, when the latter had accused the Yogi Adityanath government of preventing him from paying tributes to legendary socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan.
"Who is Akhilesh (Kaun Akhilesh)", Lalan asked when his reply was sought on the SP supremo's exhortation to Nitish Kumar, who had cut his political teeth during the 1974 "JP movement" preceding the Emergency.
The Union Panchayat Raj minister added, "Netaji (sobriquet given to Mulayam) must be turning in his grave. You (Akhilesh) are sitting in the lap of those against whom he had fought in 1974 while starting his political journey".
The allusion was to the SP's alliance with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh where the coalition outperformed the formidable BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, causing it to fall short of majority.
Incidentally, the JD(U) had played a key role in formation of INDIA bloc, of which the Congress and SP are a part. Lalan used to attend, along with Nitish Kumar, meetings of the opposition coalition until the latter decided to return to the NDA in January this year.
At present JD(U) is the second largest ally of the BJP, next only to the TDP headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.