Whoever becomes PM should not be without a wife, says Lalu Prasad Yadav

Former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD President Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday said whoever becomes the Prime Minister should not be without a wife, and staying at the PM's residence without a wife is wrong. "Staying at PM's residence without a wife is wrong. This should be done away with," he said when asked about the prime minister's face from the opposition and his earlier advice to Rahul Gandhi to get married.

On June 23, when opposition parties gathered in Patna for the first joint meet, Lalu Prasad gave a paternal reprimand to former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for his refusal to tie the nuptial knot, pointing out the consternation it was causing to his mother Sonia Gandhi. "You do not heed our advice to get married," he said while speaking to the news agency ANI. "Baat maaniye, shaadi kariye," Prasad said, adding that "your mummy keeps fretting over your refusal to get married". He further said: "We would like to be a part of your wedding procession (baraat)."

The RJD chief is currently in Delhi for a health check-up. He claimed that 17 opposition parties would unite in Bengaluru and the Mahagathbandhan would wipe out the BJP. In the last opposition meeting convened here by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, 14 parties took part to chalk out a joint strategy ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

In the current Lok Sabha, the combined strength of these parties accounts for less than 200 of the 543 seats. The Congress, which is seen as the principal rival of BJP, had won just a little over 50 seats, which was a slight improvement over its performance in 2014 when it won only 44 – an all-time low.

Two of the parties at the meeting – the RJD and CPI(ML) Liberation had failed to win a single seat in the last Lok Sabha polls though both performed well in the Bihar assembly polls held a year later. With their alliance firmly intact, they hope to do well in the parliamentary elections too.

Among the other parties, only Trinamool Congress, DMK, and JD(U) had secured double-digit tallies. The Shiv Sena had won 18 seats but it remains unclear how many of the MPs remain with the faction headed by Uddhav Thackeray, who has joined the opposition. The SP, AAP, NCP, CPI, NC, PDP, and CPI(M) were other parties that joined the Patna meet.

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