Not more than 25K attended Rahul's flop show: Sushil Nodi

The ruling JD(U)-BJP combine in Bihar on Sunday belittled the rally addressed here by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, saying it was a "flop show" that could not attract more than 25,000 people.

"Congress could not muster more than 25k in Rahul rally. Half of the crowd was brought by Bahubali Anant Singh otherwise it would have been converted into a nukkad sabha, Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi tweeted.

Anant Singh, who is an independent MLA from Mokama, has expressed his desire to contest Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket although he is yet to be inducted into the party.

The muscleman politician had, nevertheless, taken it upon himself to participate actively in the preparations for the rally held at the Gandhi Maidan here, which was the first to be addressed by the Congress president in the state ever since he took over the reins of the party in December, 2017.

Modi also took potshots at Gandhi for sharing the stage with RJD heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav whose father and party supremo Lalu Prasad is serving sentences in corruption cases.

"Rahul and Tejashwi are both on bail in corruption cases and praising Lalu who is convicted in fodder scam cases and languishing in Ranchi jail. Did Rahul forget, while sharing the stage with Lalus son, that he once tore the ordinance which was to be promulgated to help Lalu," Modi said in another tweet.

Gandhi, who was then the Congress national general secretary, had famously tore a copy of an ordinance during the Manmohan Singh government, which sought to protect convicted politicians from being disqualified for contesting elections.

Prasad, who had lost his membership of the Lok Sabha upon his first conviction in the fodder scam case in 2013, has been disqualified from contesting elections.

In a statement, JD(U) national general secretary Shyam Rajak said the Congress' rally was a flop show.

"The last Congress regime was hit by numerous scams. In contrast, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the Nitish Kumar government in the state are engaged in a campaign against corruption which is benefiting the common people. This has caused trepidation in the 'Mahagathbandhan' which is bound to bite the dust in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls," Rajak added.