Lalu doing 'yagya' to get rid of opponents: BJP

Taking a jibe at Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on joint rally addressed by the leaders of key national and regional opposition parties in Patna on August 27, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday states that the former is conducting 'yagya' to get rid of his opponents as he has no faith in the people.

BJP leader Sushil Modi told ANI, "The situation in Bihar is bad, as Lalu Prasad Yadav is conducting 'yagya' to get rid of his opponents. He has no faith in power of the people and their support towards him. Currently, there is anarchy everywhere in the state which needs to be sorted out".

The first glimpse of a united anti-BJP front will be seen at a joint rally addressed by the leaders of key national and regional opposition parties in Patna on August 27.

Samajwadi Party's (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati will participate at the "BJP hatao, desh bachao" (remove BJP, save the country), which was announced by Lalu earlier in May.

The coming together of the opposition parties of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha election in 2019 is significant as these two states together make up for 120 of the 545 parliamentary seats.

While the Congress and Bihar's ruling Janata Dal (United) have also been invited for the rally, both are yet to take a final call on whether they will attend it.

Meanwhile, efforts are on by the Congress Party to bring together like-minded opposition parties to field a joint candidate for the upcoming presidential election.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi hosted a luncheon meeting earlier on May 26, the day the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) completed three years in office.

The meeting was attended by leaders of 17 key opposition parties. Rivals SP and BSP were also present at the meeting.