Lalu to continue efforts to engage Paswan

Prasad alleged it was the Bihar chief minister and his deputy who had worked to keep Paswan castemen out of the broad Mahadalit communities in Bihar.

The RJD supremo also attacked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his efforts to form a third front and alleged that he was trying to fulfil his ambition of becoming the prime minister.

Prasad said that there were a number of other regional leaders who also nursed a similar goal and in the end all of them would try to outwit each other and defeat the ultimate goal to provide a non-Congress and non-BJP alternative at the Centre.

The RJD leader also criticised Kumar for his demand for special status and recalled that the JD(U) had celebrated the submission of the Raghuram Rajan panel report prematurely.

Prasad ridiculed Kumar for blaming him for using his political connections with the UPA leadership to scuttle the move.

On the BJP Chief Rajnath Singh offering to apologize to the Muslims if any wrongdoing has been done by his party against them, Prasad said that the crimes like 2002 Gujarat riots and the Babri Mosque demolition in 1992 were unforgivable.

Giving a call for keeping the Gujarat Chief Minister and the BJP away from power, he said It was only days ago that VHP president Ashok Singhal called on Hindus to produce five children in each family to counter Muslims while Modi asked for driving back Bangladeshis to their homeland.