Bihar BJP chief Nityanand Rai on Tuesday came down heavily on RJD chief Lalu Prasad for his statement where he referred to Rohingya Muslims as guests.

'Lalu Prasad has been patronising the politics of appeasement,' Rai said on Tuesday. 'By calling Rohingya Muslims guests of the country and asking for shelter to them he has come up with a laughable stand. His statement deserves condemnation.'

Lalu had earlier said India did not treat its guests badly and wrong was being done to Rohingya Muslims.

The BJP's aggressive posture came to the fore a day after the Narendra Modi government submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court declaring that the country was not obliged to desist from deporting refugees to a county they may be persecuted in. The affidavit called Rohingya a threat to the country as some of them had terror links with Pakistan-based outfits.

Rai virtually questioned Lalu's allegiance to the nation and claimed every nationalist Indian agreed with the Centre's concern about the security of Indian citizens because of the presence of refugees from Rohingya in the country.

Rai said that some people were coming up with meani-ngless statements to hog the limelight by questioning the Centre's stand vis-à-vis Rohingya on internal security, defence and external affairs.

He also slammed Lalu on local issues, alleging he had cheated people of backward castes for 15 years in the name of social justice and people were suffering because of his policy of appeasement in the name of secularism. He said Lalu cared only for his family and every statement of his was aimed at garnering votes.