Tejashwi downplays denial of seat to Lalu on dais at 'Prakash Utsav'

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Friday tried to downplay the controversy over why RJD chief Lalu Prasad was not given a place on the dais beside Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at the 'Prakash Utsav' on Thursday.

At the mega event here, marking the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, Lalu Prasad was not given a place on the dais from where Modi and Nitish Kumar addressed the gathering.

"My father Lalu Prasad is a 'zaminee leader' and he prefers to sit on the floor (zameen). There is nothing much to it," he said, adding that "at the Guru's darbar, it is an age-old tradition to sit on the floor, and my father has no problem in sitting on the floor".

Even though a section in the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) raised questions as to why Lalu was not given a place on the dais with Modi and Nitish Kumar, despite the fact that the RJD is a constituent of the ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar, Lalu chose not to make an issue of it.

Lalu, along with his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav -- the Bihar Health Minister -- and Tejashwi, was present at the 'langar' in the makeshift gurdwara in the 'Tent City' at historical Gandhi Maidan where the main function was held.

--IANS

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