Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday condoled the death of former Union minister Sharad Yadav and asserted that their mutual differences "never resulted in any type of bitterness".
Lalu Yadav, who has engaged in electoral battles with Yadav in the Madhepura Lok Sabha seat, issued a video statement from his hospital bed in Singapore where he is recuperating from a kidney transplant surgery.
Referring to Sharad Yadav as "bade bhai" (big brother), Lalu Yadav recalled his old association with the deceased leader.
"He, besides late Mulayam Singh Yadav, Nitish Kumar and myself learnt politics of socialism from Ram Manohar Lohia and Karpoori Thakur," said the septuagenarian.
"On many an occasion, Sharad Yadav and I fought with each other. But our disagreements never led to any bitterness," said the RJD supremo who had held out a helping hand to Yadav when the latter was struggling to come out of political wilderness.
Forced out of the JD(U), which he once headed, following a tiff with the de facto leader, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Yadav had floated Loktantrik Janata Dal. At Prasad's instance, he was given an RJD ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and his daughter Subhashini Yadav was fielded by the party in the assembly polls a year later.
In 2021, Sharad Yadav merged his party with the RJD.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
"Weak" Central Government Might Collapse Next Month, Claims Lalu Yadav "Indira Gandhi Put Us In Jail, But Never Abused Us": Lalu Yadav BJP Goes To Poll Body As Lalu Yadav Seen With "Green Towel" At Polling Booth Bangladesh Imposes Curfew, Deploys Military As 105 Die In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 105 Bangladeshis Killed In Protests Joe Biden Is The Best Person To Take On Trump, Says His Campaign Wife Among Two Jailed For Life For Man's Murder In Gurugram: Cops 1,100 Flights Cancelled In US As Microsoft Outage Disrupts Operations Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.