Leaders who left RJD not welcome to return: Lalu

RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Saturday said former party leaders who left but were trying to rejoin the party after it returned to power in Bihar were not welcome.

"Those who left or deserted the Rashtriya Janata Dal during or ahead of the Bihar assembly elections are not welcome in the party," the former chief minister said.

"They are trying to say, 'May I dhukin sir!'(asking for permission to join the party). But there is no chance for them," he said in his inimitable style.

Lalu asked party leaders and workers to tell all those trying to rejoin the RJD to keep away.

Such people in the habit of deserting the party in times of crisis and showing eagerness in rejoining it when in power should be punished, the RJD leader said.

The RJD won 80 assembly seats in the 2015 assembly elections and emerged as the largest single party in the 243-member house.

Lalu Prasad is likely to be re-elected as party chief on January 17.