Patna, Sept. 23: RJD chief Lalu Prasad today tried to “entice” people belonging to the extremely backward class (EBCs) during a function at MLA Club on Beer Chand Patel Marg.

Chandravanshi Sangharsh Morcha, named after Shiv Nandan Prasad Chandravanshi, organised the function to mark its first foundation day. Chandravanshi was a distinguished person from the EBC community.

The EBC is considered the strongest electoral segment in the state having 32 per cent population. At present, a core group of the community supports chief minister Nitish Kumar.

Lalu not only attended the function but also spent 40 minutes at the venue, which is in a dilapidated condition and has only four table fans. The hall was packed with around 300 people.

To ensure that the people present understood his speech, Lalu chose words to send across a message that he is “one of them” fighting for their rights. The former chief minister used the local dialect to slam the Nitish government. “The present government is set to go now. I am the person who gave you (the community) relief from the mental torture and gave you a respected place in society. I gave you your rights and power. I have always helped the downtrodden of the society,” Lalu said.

He added: “I am following the path of BR Ambedkar and Jai Prakash Narayan. I am performing my duties towards the downtrodden people but the Nitish government has only used you for its benefit. This government has become a government of photography, who just loves to see big pictures in newspapers.”

After singing the National Anthem, Lalu addressed the women present at the venue as his mother and sister. “You are like my mother and sister. I have always worked for your empowerment. The Nitish government has done nothing for you. I constructed houses for Dalits and the backward people but Nitish bulldozed those houses,” the RJD chief said.

“These people (Nitish and his partymen) have come out from my camp and now they are showing me attitude. There is anger across the state against the Nitish government and this is the reason that he is facing protests at his public rallies,” he said.

Lalu exhorted that Nitish’s Adhikar Yatra is a preparation for the next elections.

“The Adhikar rally is a preparation for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Have you got anything in his regime? Is any of you holding top posts in the state departments? It existed during my regime. I had given you the right and will give it to you again. Just stay united,” Lalu told the group of people.

Lalu gifted a shawl to Heera Mani Chandravanshi, the wife of late Shiv Nandan Prasad Chandravanshi. People from Patna, Gaya, Jehanabad, Nalanda and Muzaffarpur attended the function.