Don't target Nitish, Lalu tells NDA

RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Monday warned the BJP-led NDA not to target Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

"Hosh mein rahein," thundered Lalu Prasad after Arun Kumar, an MP from BJP ally RLSP, used harsh language against Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar.

Arun Kumar is state president of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), whose national president Upendra Kushwaha is a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

Arun Kumar on Saturday hit out at Nitish Kumar, accusing him of targeting an upper caste community.

"NDA leaders should hold their tongue," Lalu Prasad told the media, and asked them not to target Nitish Kumar.

He said the situation in Bihar had gone beyond 1990 when influential castes could easily target the poor.

Lalu Prasad, who later left for Delhi, made it clear that he and Nitish Kumar would not allow anyone to take Bihar back to the pre-1990 situation when social conflicts were rampant.

Arun Kumar's outburst followed the arrest of JD-U legislator Anant Singh, who is from the Bhumihar community. Arun Kumar is also a Bhumihar.

The community is considered powerful in Bihar's politics despite forming hardly 3-4 percent of the state's 10.5 crore population.