Stopped respecting Ram Kripal Yadav after he joined the BJP, says Misa Bharti
Highlights
- "We used to have huge respect for Ram Kripal Yadav," Misa Bharti said
- Ram Kripal Yadav quit RJD in 2014 and joined the BJP
- He had earlier said he was an earnest RJD worker, but felt betrayed
Lalu Yadav's daughter and Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) leader Misa Bharti stirred controversy after her statement at a public rally on Wednesday in Patna. Ms Bharti said that she "felt like chopping off" RJD loyalist-turned-rebel, Ram Kripal Yadav's hands after he joined the BJP in 2014. Ram Kripal Yadav is a union minister now in the Narendra Modi-led government.
"He (Ram Kripal Yadav) used to cut chaff. We had huge respect for him. However, we stopped respecting him when he went on to join hands with Sushil Kumar Modi. At that time I felt like cutting his hands with the same chaff cutting machine," said Ms Bharti, who is once again pitching to fight from Pataliputra Lok Sabha constituency.
Ms Bharti said that she is "confident of her win this time" as she didn't get enough time to prepare during 2014 polls.
Ram Kripal Yadav, once a close aide of RJD supremo Lalu Yadav, quit the party in 2014 saying, "Narendra Modi is the man India is look up to". The BJP gave the new joinee a ticket from Pataliputra against Ms Bharti, who lost the elections.
After winning in 2014, Ram Kripal Yadav had said that he had been an earnest worker of the RJD but felt betrayed after he was denied a ticket by the party in 2014.
The Pataliputra seat has always been seen as a prestige issue for the "first family" of the RJD as both Lalu Yadav and daughter Ms Bharti have unsuccessfully contested from there. While Lalu yadav, in 2009, had lost the Pataliputra seat to Ranjan Yadav, who was contesting on a JD(S) ticket, Ms Bharti lost the seat to Ram Kripal Yadav in the last Lok Sabha polls.