NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party MLA Ravidas Mehrotra on Tuesday lashed out at Congress for referring to Rahul Gandhi as ‘jan nayak’ (leader of the masses) and said that the INDIA bloc would collectively decide who it should be.Putting his weight behind Akhilesh Yadav, Mehrotra slammed the alliance partner brushing aside that no party can put forward their leader as the face of bloc.
“All the parties in the INDI alliance will make the decision together; no single party has the right to decide on its own or declare its leader. We are only saying that Akhilesh Yadav is a people’s leader…,” Mehrotra told the media.This comes amidst a political firestorm brewing in Bihar ahead of the crucial polls, over the legacy of socialist icon Karpoori Thakur, with major parties clashing over the use of the title ‘jan nayak.’ The row escalated after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a Samastipur rally on October 24, accused Congress of attempting to “steal” the title of Jan Nayak from Karpoori Thakur.“Now they (Congress) are attempting to steal the title of Jan Nayak from our socialist leader Karpoori Thakur. But people of Bihar will not let it happen and give them a befitting answer in the upcoming Assembly elections,” PM allegedResponding to PM’s statement Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram defended his party’s position, stating that Rahul Gandhi was conferred the title by the public for his work among the masses.“It is not for the Prime Minister or the BJP to decide whether the LoP in the Lok Sabha is a Jan Nayak or not, as the public has bestowed the title on him,” Ram addedDeputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary also criticised Congress, saying, “This is an insult to the legacy of Karpoori Thakur ji. It were the people who made Karpoori Ji ‘Jan Nayak’ and not social media that bestowed the title to the Congress leader, who is out on bail.”The controversy follows a series of public displays: in September, a poster outside the state Congress headquarters at Sadaquat Ashram called Rahul Gandhi ‘Jan Nayak’, while a poster outside the RJD office showed Tejashwi Prasad Yadav as Bihar’s ‘Nayak’. Gandhi was notably absent from the RJD poster.
