Lalu slams Modi for not reining BJP leaders who speak of changing Constitution

Patna: RJD president Lalu Prasad on Monday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "failure" to rein in BJP leaders who spoke of bringing in "a new Constitution" if the party won a two-third majority in Lok Sabha polls.

In a hard-hitting statement, the ailing septuagenarian said the poor and depressed classes held dear the Constitution, framed by Dalit icon Baba Saheb Ambedkar, and those who cast a malevolent glance on it "will have their eyes gouged out".

"The PM is actually scared. He is apprehensive of a defeat since he stands exposed before the nation. To cover up his fear he is boasting of 370 plus seats for the BJP", said the former Bihar chief minister.

Prasad, who is also a several term former MP who served in the Union Cabinet under Manmohan Singh, expressed anguish that many BJP leaders have been speaking of changing the Constitution, but there was no "karvayi (action)" against them and some of them were even being fielded by the party.

The outbursts of Prasad, who is out on bail, having been convicted in a number of fodder scam cases, come in the backdrop of a remark by Ayodhya's sitting MP Lallu Singh, who later retracted his statement claiming it was a slip of tongue.

Earlier, similar remarks had been made by Jyoti Mirdha, a BJP candidate in Rajasthan and the party's Karnataka MP Anant Hegde.

Prasad said "The Constitution has been bequeathed to the poor, the depressed classes, by Babasaheb Ambedkar. They will not tolerate any attempts at tinkering. Anybody who casts a malevolent glance on the Constitution will have his eyes gouged out (janta aankh nikaal legi)", said Prasad.

The RJD supremo also took a dig at his arch-rival Nitish Kumar, the Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president, who was recently trolled on social media for a faux pas he made at a rally of the prime minister.

"Nitish Kumar blurted that NDA will win 4,000 votes. A few days later he repeated the mistake, only to correct himself saying that he was sorry for the slip-up", said Prasad, referring to another rally that the JD(U) boss addressed in Nawada.