Lalu on back foot: two FIRs, one complaint

Facing flak from Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies for launching scathing remarks against Varun Gandhi, Union Railway Minister and RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav who went on the back foot sought to downplay the entire episode stating he was misquoted.

“What I actually meant was that had I been the home minister I would have bulldozed him (Varun), legally and politically,” the RJD leader said, adding the media was trying to interpret his statement wrongly.

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Addressing an election rally in Muslims dominated Kishanganj in Bihar, Lalu in his bid to exploit the sentiments of minority community to gain political mileage had said that “had I been the home minister I would have run a roller over Varun’s chest for making anti-Muslim speeches and thought about the consequences later.”

Meanwhile, Varun’s mother and BJP MP Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday lodged a complaint with police against the RJD chief for his bulldozer remarks against his son. She demanded the SSP N Ravindran at Daun in Uttar Pradesh to lodge a complaint against RJD leader Lalu Yadav under Sections 504 (insult intended to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC and arrest him forthwith.

Two FIRs are already registered against Lalu Yadav. One the Kishanganj administration registered after viewing the CD of Lalu Prasad’s speech and forwarded the CD to the Election Commission; second FIR was filed at the Garwah police station after the railway minister’s helicopter landed at the election meeting venue directly instead of the helipad. The pilot of the chopper was arrested but later released on bail.

Bihar Chief Minister and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar has also condemned the RJD leader for trying to create social tension and communal divide. “What Varun Gandhi said was wrong and therefore we supported the legal action against him. But it is wrong to aggravate people’s feelings by saying he (Varun) should be run over by a bulldozer,” he said.

Kishanganj is Muslims dominated constituency having the larges number of Muslims in Bihar. The seat is going to be an acid test both for RJD and JD (U) in the forthcoming Lok Sabha election as the result would decide which has hold on minorities. JD (U) has fielded a Muslim candidate here. Bihar is going to polls in four phases on April 16, 23, 30 and May 07.