Will launch Mahabharata-like war over Land Acquisition Bill, says Lalu Prasad

RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Wednesday vowed to launch a Mahabharata-like war over the Land Acquisition Bill, and said the merger of six Janata Parivar parties will send a clear signal for the ouster of BJP all over the country.

The six parties are Janata Dal (U), RJD, SP, Indian National Lok Dal, Janata Dal (Secular) and Samajwadi Janata Party (SJP).

"The aim of the merger of Janata (Parivar) parties is to send BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi packing from everywhere. We want to start it from Bihar as polls are due here and the entire country is watching the state with a keen interest. It will send a clear message across the country," PTI quoted Prasad as telling media-persons.

"We'll have Mahabharat war against BJP over its Land Acquisition Bill and false promises to bring back black money stashed in foreign countries, as well as, providing jobs to the youth. We'll not spare them. They have cheated everybody including our farmers," he said.

Prasad was talking to media-persons after arriving from New Delhi in the afternoon. He has called an "emergency meeting" of the party national executive on April 5 in the state capital here to discuss the merger threadbare.

Prasad said efforts were on to rope in more like-minded parties to the fold of the new party formed through the merger.

"We are trying to add more parties to our fold by means of merger, alliance or tie-ups. We'll also talk to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha regarding this," he said.

Prasad said though the announcement of the merger would be made by SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav, it would help unite secular forces against communal ones.

"The merger will unite secular and social justice forces against communal forces. It will check the division of votes of secular people, due to which communal forces had become stronger in the country. Fighting polls together will also enhance our credibility," he added.

Asked about who will be the face of the party formed after the merger, Prasad skirted the issue by saying it could be anybody.

"Anybody could be the face of the new party. Nobody's face is bad. We'll let everybody know when the person is chosen.

Our aim is to unite secular forces, not forming a government," he said.

Indicating that there was no friction or "ego problem" among the top leaders of the six Janata Parivar parties, Prasad said he would accept any position in the new party given to him.

"When parties merge, they have to leave their election symbol. We have fought polls on symbols like 'cup-plate', 'woman', 'chakra' and 'plough'. So there are no issues or ego problems among us," he said.

However, Prasad did not rule out disputes when it comes to ticket distribution during the Bihar polls later this year, but said the effort would be to give representation people from all categories.

"Disputes keep happening and it is quite natural for ticket seekers to worry. It was during one such dispute over ticket distribution that Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ram Kripal Yadav, left our party. But it is too early to say anything. We'll try to provide representation to all castes and categories," he said.