 "Lalu Prasad dares PM Modi, Amit Shah to use central agencies against him")
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad on Sunday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah to do whatever they could against him and his family but warned that he and his party will continue to work for the defeat of "communal forces" in the 2019 General Elections.
"I will neither bow before fascist and communal forces like the BJP, nor stop our fight against them till their defeat in the next General Elections," the former Bihar Chief Minister said while addressing an opposition rally organised by his party in Patna.
He also said he would ensure the ousting of fascist-communal forces from power in Delhi by uniting various opposition parties.
Lalu Prasad said he would prefer to be hanged rather than compromise on his principles and political ideology to fight communal and fascist forces in the country.
"I was the one who used to warn people across the country during the 2014 election campaigning that if the BJP led by Modi came to power, the country will face danger and problems. My apprehensions were ignored by many at that time, but have been proved true now."
The former Railway Minister accused the central government of misusing the Income Tax Department, the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to lodge "false cases" against him and his son and daughter to defame them.
"Farzi mukadma hum logon ko darane ke liye kiya tha (False case was foisted on us to scare us)," the RJD chief said.
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Accusing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of betraying the public mandate by breaking the Grand Alliance in the state, Lalu Prasad said the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader (Nitish) had no principles, no ideology, but only love for power.
Lalu Prasad said he was aware of Nitish Kumar's designs of political betrayal and was not ready to name him the chief ministerial candidate when the Grand Alliance was formed in Bihar.
"I was not ready to declare Nitish Kumar the chief ministerial candidate due to his track record of betraying... it was the then Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav who persuaded me to agree to his name for the post."
He said Nitish Kumar was envious of and feared his younger son and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav's popularity.
Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also addressed the rally.
C P Joshi of the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party's Tarique Anwar, Rashtriya Lok Dal's Choudhary Jayant Singh, Communist Party of India's Sudhakar Reddy, former Jharkhand Chief Ministers Hemant Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Babulal Marandi of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, All India United Democratic Front leader Badruddin Ajmal and leaders from the DMK, Janata Dal-Secular and Revolutionary Socialist Party also attended.
Thousands of people attended the rally despite floods in major parts of Seemanchal, Koshi, and Mithilanchal regions of north Bihar.
Also present at the rally were Tejashwi Yadav, Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav and wife Rabri Devi along with their daughter Misa Bharti.