On the direction of the Election Commission, on Tuesday an FIR was lodged against RJD chief Lalu Prasad for “provoking caste feelings” during a speech two days earlier in Raghopur, from where his son Tejaswi is contesting. Campaigning in Yadav-dominated Terasia village, Lalu had called the poll a “backward-versus-forward fight and a Mahabharata”, exhorted Yadavs to “stay awake and united”, and said the “RSS is full of Brahmins”.
Additional Chief Election Officer R Lakshamanan said that the case was registered against the RJD chief on the basis of video footage of his utterances at a political meeting in Raghopur on Sunday.
This came a day after chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi during his visit said any casteist remark was a violation of the EC guidelines, when his attention was drawn to Lalu Prasad’s statement. Zaidi said the Bihar chief electoral officer would examine any complaint about the caste remark.
Meanwhile, An FIR was lodged against BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday for trying to allure voters by promising them free laptops, colour TVs and sarees during his public address ahead of the state assembly polls, police said. “An FIR was lodged against Modi on the charge of alluring voters on Monday at his public meeting in Bhabhua, the district headquarters of Kaimur,” a district police official said.
Modi, the state’s former deputy chief minister, had reportedly promised the freebies during his public rally at Bhabhua.