By IANS,
Patna : After launching his own blog, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad now plans to write a book to debunk myths about his “anti-upper caste” image and to expose those responsible for “defaming” him.
Lalu, who is also Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief, claims he never abused upper castes as charged by his political rivals. He maintained that he had never targeted upper castes by saying ‘Bhura Baal Saaf Karo’ – that means eliminate the Bhumihar, Brahman, Rajput and Lala, four upper castes common in Bihar.
“I never made such remarks,” he said at a party meet.
“It was all created by (people who have) vested interests to defame me and tarnish my image,” Lalu said. “I was made a victim of propaganda by powerful people, who were threatened by my commitment for social justice.”
He denied various other statements attributed to him, including a reported claim that he would make Bihar’s roads as smooth as actress Hema Malini’s cheeks.
Lalu, who turned 61 last week, said that a story had been circulated that when he was chief minister of Bihar, he used to order the chief secretary, who happened to belong to an upper caste, to prepare khaini (tobacco) for him.
“The motive behind was to send a message that Lalu was humiliating a top upper caste official and hence paint my image as being anti-upper caste,” the minister said at the end of a two-day party meet in Kaimur district Sunday that was held to deliberate on the strategy for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
He revealed that all these controversies would be part of the book he is preparing to write.
“I will expose big names in politics on how they rose to the peak of power-politics,” Lalu stated.
In the early 1990s, soon after Lalu came to power in caste-ridden and feudal Bihar, the RJD chief was projected as anti-upper caste by his political rivals as well as local media. This image helped him mobilise backward castes, Dalits and Muslims.