By IANS,
Patna : Congress leader and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated Tuesday that Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad was no longer an ally of the party.
“It has become difficult to keep him as an ally. He treats the Congress as a doormat,” Mukherjee said in Hindi at an election rally in Bihar’s Samastipur.
“Nobody can form the government, neither the NDA (National Democratic Alliance), nor the Third Front, nor the Left parties,” he said in response to Lalu Prasad’s comments that the ‘fourth front’ will form the next government.
The Congress leader’s remarks came after Railways Minister Lalu Prasad last week blamed the congress too for the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid.
Though RJD has been a part of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the two parties fell out over seat adjustments for the Lok Sabha elections and are contesting separately.
Mukherjee said Lalu Prasad had no more role in the government. “He is no more with us,” he said.
Recalling the Congress’s support to the RJD governments in Bihar in the 1990s, the Congress leader termed Lalu Prasad as ungrateful. “He is betraying us,” he said.
Reacting to Mukherjee’s remarks, Lalu Prasad maintained he would work to form the government after elections.
“Time alone will tell who will form the government,” he added.