Patna, Jan. 18: Lalu Prasad seems to be waiting for the Uttar Pradesh elections to gauge the impact of demonetisation before charging full throttle at the Centre over the note-ban issue.

The RJD chief today said his party had postponed plans to organise a rally in Patna against the note ban, and the demonstration would be held after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, the results of which will be declared along with four other states' results on March 11.

"The RJD will organise a huge rally at Patna's Gandhi Maidan after the UP election in which invitation would be sent to Mamata Banerjee, Sonia Gandhi, the Samajwadi Party, CPM and other political parties," Lalu said during an event where veteran leader Raghunath Jha and his son Ajit Kumar Jha rejoined the party. Jha had resigned from the party before the Assembly election in 2015.

Lalu himself had announced the rally against demonetisation on December 28, when his party had staged a state-wide demonstration against the note ban. Then, Lalu had said he would announce the date of the rally within a week. He, however, kept mum on the rally though he continued attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the note ban.

On January 14, when Lalu had organised a dahi-chura feast at his 10 Circular Road residence, he was again asked the date of the rally. "Soon," he had replied.

"There are chances that the rally may not happen if the BJP performs well in UP because it will prove that demonetisation would not be an issue anymore," a senior RJD leader told The Telegraph under cover of anonymity.

"That's the reason behind the party deferring the rally - Laluji wants to see the impact of demonetisation on the UP elections."

The claim that the rally may not happen cannot be ignored, going by Lalu's past record.

On the eve of Assembly election results on November 7, 2015, Lalu had announced that he would launch a nationwide campaign against Modi from Varanasi, the Prime Minister's Lok Sabha constituency. He would go there with a lantern (the RJD party symbol) to start the campaign, Lalu had declared.

He kept repeating that he would go, but after about two months he went mum.

On several occasions, when reporters used to ask him when he would go to Varanasi, Lalu would hedge by saying he would go after winter, then he said after summer, and then he also said after the rains.

In the same period, Lalu had also announced he would hold another rally against the Prime Minister at Calcutta's Brigade Parade ground.

It has been more than one year, but the RJD chief has neither organised any rally in Varanasi nor in Calcutta.

Lalu has been saying that the UP election is not just a state election, but has ramifications for the entire country.

The RJD chief today also announced that the RJD will not contest elections in Uttar Pradesh, but he will go there to campaign. "I will speak to the JDU to make a Grand Alliance in UP, the way we have formed in Bihar," Lalu asserted.

The JDU has supported the Centre's demonetisation.