"Nitish Kumar, Lalu Yadav Daydreaming": Ravi Shankar Prasad Rips Into Opposition

Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday mocked the opposition party meeting, saying Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav were "daydreaming". He reminded them of their "suffering" during the Emergency imposed by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

"Lalu Ji and Nitish Ji went to jail during the Emergency in the country. How much they suffered during the Indira regime. They are hobnobbing with Rahul Gandhi for the sake of power," he said.

The BJP leader also took a dig at Lalu Yadav's "Shaadi kariye, aur hum log baraati chale (get married, we'll come for the wedding procession)" suggestion to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Continuing the attack against the opposition, Mr Prasad said, "How far will they (opposition) stay united in their opposition to PM Modi and what can they do to grab power. Let us see".

He termed PM Narendra Modi's visit to the United States a successful one, based on shared principles of democracy and equality.

Referring to PM Modi's rising stature as a tall world leader, he said, "People have seen that a leader who is honest is always voted to power with an absolute majority".

As India is the world's third-largest economy, the former Union Minister said, "The respect and worth of a nation lies in its economic development and political clout".

"They (opposition) will not get political advantage out of this meeting," Mr Prasad, a senior BJP leader, said.

He took a dig at the opposition after Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party engaged in a war of words over the Centre's Ordinance pertaining to control of services in the Capital.

"Kejriwal ran away....Let us see what is happening next," he said, after Mr Kejriwal had before the meeting threatened to pull out of the meeting in case the grand old party did not support AAP's fight against the Centre's Ordinance.

The mega event was attended by Chief Ministers of several opposition-ruled states, including Mamata Banerjee and some other prominent leaders from parties opposed to the BJP.

Nitish Kumar, who had convened the meeting of opposition leaders, said at the joint press conference that opposition parties decided to fight the elections together.

"It was a good meeting where it has been decided to fight the elections together. Another meeting will be held soon," Mr Kumar said after the meeting.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray were among the leaders who attended the meeting.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)