Lalu urges non-BJP parties to unite for 2019 (Lead, Supersedes earlier version)

RJD leader Lalu Prasad on Wednesday appealed to all non-BJP and like-minded parties to come together to defeat the BJP in the general election of 2019 but avoided any reference to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Addressing hundreds of party leaders and workers here to mark the 21st foundation day of his Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lalu Prasad said there was an attempt to spread hate in the country by "vested interests".

He alleged there was an "undeclared Emergency-like situation" in the country.

"The BJP told lies to the people in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The central government has cheated and betrayed the people by not fulfilling any of the promises made to them in the last three years," he said.

"Where are the two crore jobs for the youth? Where is the MSP for farmers? Where is the black money from foreign banks? Where are the 'achche din'?"

The former Bihar Chief Minister said the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power "because we are divided".

"In the name of protecting the cow, people have been killed. Farmers have been committing suicide. There is a dangerous situation in the country."

He urged all non-BJP parties to come together to defeat the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha battle but made no reference to Nitish Kumar or his Janata Dal-United (JD-U), which has broken ranks with the RJD and other opposition parties over the upcoming Presidential election.

"If Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav, two former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, join hands, the BJP will be finished," he declared.

Lalu Prasad said the Modi government was targeting the AAP and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, BSP chief Mayawati, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress President Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka and his own family "because if all of them join hands, the BJP will be nowhere".

RJD leaders including Finance Minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui as well as Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav, the two sons of Lalu Prasad, attended the meeting.

--IANS

ik/rn/mr/nir