New Delhi, Aug 5: RJD chief Lalu Prasad today guided newly elected MP Prabhunath Singh to greet Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha and assured that the former JD(U) leader now was a “changed” man and would not attack her and the Congress.
This effort by Lalu is seen as yet another attempt by the RJD boss to strike a rapport with the Congress president and get the national party by his side. In recent times, the Congress has shown signs of tilting towards Lalu’s rival and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in the build up to next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
Lalu was seen taking Prabhunath to Sonia, sitting in the front row of the Lok Sabha, just before the House assembled on the first day of the monsoon session.
Prabhunath, known as a bitter critic of both Sonia and the Congress in his earlier avatar as a JD(U) MP, greeted the Congress boss with folded hands.
“Laluji took me to Soniaji and told her that that I was an RJD MP now and I would not attack the Congress. I did not say anything. I only greeted her on my first day in the House,” Singh told The Telegraph.
Sonia Gandhi was seen accepting the greeting with a smile.
Prabhunath, who defeated P.K. Shahi — the education minister in the Nitish Kumar government — in the Maharajganj Lok Sabha bye-election, took oath today. He sought to press the demand for inclusion of Bhojpuri language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
“I had put a request to take oath in Bhojpuri but I have been told to do so Hindi,” said Prabhunath, before taking the oath. He agreed to take oath in Hindi but urged Speaker Meira Kumar, who also hails from the Bhojpuri-speaking region, to take steps for the recognition of the language.
“I will raise the issue of Bhojpuri language in the Lok Sabha and not rest till it is recognised and put in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution,” Prabhunath said later.
He, however, refused to comment about his aggressive anti-Congress stand as a JD(U) MP earlier. In his earlier stint as a JD(U) MP, Prabhunath, had attacked the Congress and Sonia Gandhi more bitterly than his other colleagues.
He refused to comment on his earlier stand and said now, as an RJD MP, he would follow the political line of the party.
For Lalu, Prabhunath extended yet another opportunity to reach out to the Congress. The RJD-LJP combine has been desperately trying to get the Congress to strike a seat-sharing arrangement in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress so far has shown no inclination to align with the RJD-LJP, particularly after Nitish snapped ties with the BJP. Sources said the Congress hopes to get the JD(U) on its side pre- or post-polls in 2014.
The irrepressible Lalu, however, continues to strive under the impression that with the Congress by his side he can attract the maximum number of Muslim voters, seeking to defeat the BJP led by Narendra Modi.
While Prabhunath gave a reason for Lalu to reach out to Sonia Gandhi, another MP, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, embarrassed the leader by going against the RJD line and opposing the amendments to the Right to Information Act, seeking to keep political parties out of its ambit.
“I don’t agree with the proposed ammendment. Why are we afraid of transparency? How can we exclude ourselves from being transparent when we want everybody else to be transparent?” Singh told reporters.
