A luncheon meeting between Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav has not gone down with the rivals Janata Dal United and Bharatiya Janata Party.
The JDU termed Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav as a duo of “fodder and bofors”. Party spokesperson Sanjay Singh also used the opportunity to target RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, asking him as to how the Gandhi scion was having lunch with his son when he wasn’t willing to share the stage with the former during Bihar Assembly elections.
Tejashwi was quick to react to the attack by the rivals, saying “Lunch humne kiya aur hajma inka kharab hai” (we had the lunch but their digestion is bad).
The former deputy chief minister of Bihar targeted Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, claiming that in 2015, he was pleading the same “bofors and fodder” people to retain his chair.
लंच हमने किया और हाज़मा इनका ख़राब है। पता नहीं क्यों ये लोग छवि कुमार के दाग़ी कारनामे दुनिया को याद दिलवाते रहते है? 2015 में बोफ़ोर्स और चारा वालों के यहाँ CM बनने के लिए नीतीश जी क्यों दिल्ली से पटना तक गुहार लगा रहे थे?DNA किसका ख़राब था?https://t.co/Zakuste6N4
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) November 18, 2017
Meanwhile, the RJD backed the meeting between the two leaders, saying it was the beginning of a new relationship, which would yield results in 2019 elections. RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari was also quoted by reports as saying that the Gandhi scion would be in direct touch with Tejashwi over issues concerning Bihar.
Tejashwi had on Friday tweeted four pictures of the luncheon meeting with the Congress vice president. He had tweeted thanks for the Congress leader for taking him out “for wonderful lunch”. He had further said, “Feel appreciated and grateful. Again thanks for taking out time out of ur tight schedule.”
Thank you @OfficeOfRG for taking me out for wonderful lunch. Feel appreciated and grateful. Again thanks for taking out time out of ur tight schedule. pic.twitter.com/wqIg8Ss3xm
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) November 17, 2017
The meeting between the two leaders comes amid reports of the Congress party speeding up the process of making Rahul Gandhi the president of the party. The Congress Working Committee is expected to meet in this regard on Monday.
Rahul Gandhi is expected to be the only candidate in the fray for the party chief's post. On the last day of filing the nomination, if no other contestant files his/her nomination against Gandhi, then he will be declared president unopposed.
The party has time until December 31 to complete the entire organisational election process and submit the report to the Election Commission.
