PATNA: Senior JD(U) leader and the party’s former president Sharad Yadav on Tuesday caused uneasy ripples in the state’s ruling grand alliance by attacking Congress at a public ceremony.
“While remembering Karpoori Thakur, I want to say that Congress has been badly, miserably engulfed by corruption scams like 2G, Commonwealth, coal block scam and so on. Congress was never so low in its history as now,” said Yadav, a Rajya Sabha member, in his address at a ceremony to mark the 92nd birth anniversary of socialist icon and former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur.
The JD(U) leader’s comments took everyone by surprise. Even Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was present on the dais at the moment, looked momentarily uneasy.
“Even after clamping Emergency, this very large party was everywhere in all of south and north India, but no longer,” added Yadav. JD(U) leaders disapproved the comments, describing them as “unnecessary”, and attributed them to Yadav’s displeasure at JD(U)’s failure to be a part of the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh.
According to JD(U) leaders, Sharad Yadav has been “deeply pained” about the “inevitable division of secular votes” in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Assembly polls and the likely victory of BJP there.
“Beti ki izzat se bhi vote ki izzat badi hai. Beti ki izzat jayegi to gaon aur muhalle ki izzat jayegi. Vote ek baar bik gaya, ek baar garbar ho gaya to ilake ki, desh ki, sube ki izzat aur aabru badhane ka sapna poora kaise ho payega?” (The dignity of votes is bigger than that of a daughter. If a daughter is sold away, it brings disgrace to the village. If votes are sold away and such disruption takes place, the dream of raising the dignity of the state and the nation cannot be fulfilled) added Yadav in his speech.
Congress protested Yadav’s statements. “His words have hurt Congress leaders and workers. I cannot understand under what mental state he spoke those words. They (JD-U) must not forget that Congress was the party that led the drive to make Nitish Kumar the chief minister of Bihar,” said Premchand Mishra, spokesperson of state Congress.
“Sharad Yadav’s statements would have no impact on the coalition government in Bihar. RJD has nothing to do with these statements,” said RJD MP Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav. “He (Sharad Yadav) made that statement at a personal level,” he added.
JD(U) leaders declined to comment on the former party chief’s statement.