Expelled RJD MP Pappu Yadav today dubbed the Lalu-Nitish combine as his "enemy No. 1" and made overtures to BJP for an alliance in the poll-bound Bihar while announcing the formation of his own outfit.
"This (Lalu-Nitish) is an unholy alliance. They think Bihar is their personal property... In Bihar, development is the issue, not caste and religion. If BJP agrees with my agenda, then we can work together," he told reporters.
He appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rein in Hinduvta leaders like Yogi Adityanath and Sakshi Maharaj and focus on development.
Reaching out to members of the Yadav community, long considered a vote bank of RJD chief Lalu Prasad but who nurse antipathy to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, he said Kumar had shown Prasad his place by "forcing" him to agree to his name as the chief ministerial candidate.
He said Yadavs and Muslims were portrayed by the JD(U) leader as the major beneficiaries of Prasad's "jungle raj".
"Lalu ji says his party has no candidate for the post of chief minister. It is a huge injustice to those supporting him. He is the biggest enemy of Yadavs, Muslims, Dalits...," he said.
BJP has shown little keenness so far in joining hands with Yadav, but sources close to him said he expects some sort of understanding with the saffron party as it works to stitch up a winning coalition against the formidable Bihar satraps.
His outfit Jan Adhikar Party, he said, would soon decide on how many seats it would fight in the Bihar Assembly elections, likely to be held in September-October.
Yadav is the patron of the party whose president is former journalist Baljeet Parmar.
The Madhepura MP was expelled from RJD last month. His wife Ranjeet Ranjan is a Lok Sabha MP from Congress.
The five-time MP enjoys clout in parts of Bihar and can play a spoilsport, especially for RJD-JD(U) alliance, in the elections.
