Tejashwi backs Rahul Gandhi, says those who boasted 400-plus seats got only 240

Samastipur (Bihar): RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday backed Rahul Gandhi's allegation that the recently held Lok Sabha elections were not held in a free and fair manner, even though the BJP ended up losing majority as a party.

The former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister was responding to queries about the statement made by the Congress leader during a trip to the US that had there been a "level playing field", the BJP's tally would have been much lower than the 240 seats it got.

Yadav said, "It is no secret that central investigating agencies are let loose on opponents of the BJP. On the other hand, as we have seen in Maharashtra, a tie-up with the ruling party at the Centre washes away all past sins."

The allusion was to Ajit Pawar, the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, who split the NCP headed by uncle Sharad Pawar and joined the NDA government in the western state days after being accused of corruption by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, Yadav seemed to be satisfied that "those boasting of a 400 plus tally, got reduced to a mere 240. It is just the beginning. Popular discontent with the current dispensation is only going to intensify".

The RJD leader, whose party had performed below par in the Lok Sabha polls, winning only four of 23 seats it contested, however, exuded confidence that the Mahagathbandhan will win next year's state assembly polls.

"We must remember that in state polls, local factors take the upper hand. We must also not forget that, but for some suspected foul play on the day when votes were counted, the Mahagathbandhan may have formed the government in 2020 itself. We polled only 12,000 votes less than the NDA," said Yadav, who is currently the leader of the opposition in the 243-strong assembly.

The younger son and heir apparent of RJD president Lalu Prasad was speaking on the inaugural day of a drive undertaken to galvanize the party cadre ahead of the assembly polls.

"We are happy to launch this drive in Samastipur, the place of birth of Bharat Ratna late Karpoori Thakur. I will tour the entire state in due course and seek feedback from grassroots workers," disclosed Yadav.

The RJD leader refused to join the issue with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress founder and an INDIA bloc partner, who has reportedly claimed that the accused in the Kolkata doctor rape and murder case was a native of Bihar, in an apparent bid to give a "local versus outsider" spin to the episode.

Yadav said, "It does not matter to which place the accused belongs. The fact remains he deserves punishment. We, in Bihar, should be focusing more on similar incidents taking place in every district of the state."

The RJD leader, whose party lost power in January this year when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) president, returned to the NDA, also slammed the state's "double engine government" to protect the laws hiking reservations for deprived castes by getting the legislation included in the ninth schedule of the Constitution.