By IANS
Patna : Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Sunday dismissed speculation of a mid-term poll even as he expressed confidence that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will retain power whenever polls were held.
“What speculation? It was all created by BJP’s men in the media, there is no question of mid-term polls,” Lalu told a press conference here before leaving for an official function of Indian railways in Ara town, about 60 km from here.
He said that UPA government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was committed to implement the Rajinder Sachar committee report on the socio-economic condition of the minority Muslim community.
“The tabling of the follow-up action report in the Lok Sabha last week has nothing to do with mid-term polls,” he said.
However, Lalu Prasad added that the UPA was bound to win no matter when the elections were held. “We are not afraid of elections.”
Earlier, Lalu Prasad, president of Bihar’s main opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), described the rule of the 21-month-old Nitish Kumar government in the state as “jungle raj”.
“This government has failed on all fronts. There was lawlessness all around. Atrocities against Dalits, weaker sections and the marginalised have only increased,” he said.
He said that the state government had failed to provide relief to flood victims, who have been living without food, water and shelter.
Lalu Prasad rejected the charge levelled by Nitish Kumar that he had tried to create communal trouble in Bhagalpur last week after a petty thief from the minority community was brutally tortured by police.
“It was the first such case of police brutality. The speaker of the Lok Sabha also condemned it. I raised the issue because a poor minority youth was brutally tortured by the police,” he said.
Saying that nothing had changed in Bihar since Nitish Kumar came to power in November 2005, Lalu Prasad added that his party will hold a ‘warning rally’ here in October to expose the chief minister’s claims of good governance.