BJP attacks Lalu, Nitish for insulting Jai Prakash Narayan

PATNA: Hailing the Centre for deciding to set up a memorial of Jai Prakash Narayan in his native Sitab Diara village in Bihar, the BJP today attacked RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar for insulting the late Socialist leader by shaking hands with the Congress.

"Have not you (Lalu and Nitish) insulted JP by shaking hands with the Congress, which had imposed Emergency in the country 40 years ago?" senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi asked in a statement.

Recalling that the legendary Socialist leader had led an agitation against the then Indira Gandhi government at the Centre, which had subsequently imposed Emergency to quell the stir, he asked the RJD supremo and the senior JD(U) leader as to how they would realise JP's dreams by sitting in the lap of Congress.

Ruing that the great Socialist leader was not given his dues by successive governments, Sushil Modi, himself a product of the JP movement, hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bestowing honour on the leader with the Centre deciding to set up a memorial in JP's native village to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency in the country.