The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday slammed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and his family members for visiting the Hariharnath temple in Bihar’s Saran district.
“They are gimmicky people. They chant ‘Ram’ slogans and plot to kill his devotee Hanuman. They are the ones who demoralised ‘Sanatan’ (during Ayodhya’s Ram Temple ‘Pran Pratishtha’),” Bihar deputy chief minister Vijay Sinha told PTI.
Earlier in the day, Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and daughters Misa Bharti and Rohini Acharya offered prayers at the temple. According to media reports, Acharya is likely to contest from Saran, a Lok Sabha seat her father represented in 2009 after it was created in 2008.
On the other hand, the RJD chief’s eldest daughter Misa Bharti is likely to contest from the Patliputra constituency. She had fought on this constituency in 2014 and 2019, losing both times to BJP’s Ram Kirpal Yadav.
Rohini Acharya, who has gained popularity because of her social media activism and her gesture of donating a kidney to her father, is also scheduled to kick off her campaign in Saran on Tuesday.
Bihar, which sends 40 members to the Lok Sabha, will witness polling in all seven phases on April 19, 26, May 7, 13, 20, 25, and June 1.
The ‘Mahagathbandhan’ alliance in Bihar has recently announced its seat-sharing formula last week, with the RJD to contest 26 of the state’s 40 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress will field its candidates in nine seats, while the Left parties have been allotted five seats.
The BJP on March 24 had announced its candidates for 17 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, dropping three sitting MPs, including Union Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey. Former Union ministers Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Ram Kripal Yadav are seeking re-election from Saran and Patliputra Lok Sabha seat on BJP ticket.
While Saran will go for polls in the fifth phase on May 20, elections will be held in the Patliputra seat in the last phase on June 1. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
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