Lalu Backs Mamata, Says Congress Must For 2019 Anti-BJP Front

“There can be no Third Front without the Congress,” Lalu Prasad said reportedly.

Lalu Prasad Yadav arrives at New Delhi for treatment at All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Thursday. 

(Photo: PTI)

Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who came to Delhi for a medical treatment at AIIMS, on Thursday, 29 March, backed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s stand that the inclusion of Congress is must for any anti-BJP formation in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"There can be no Third Front without the Congress," the Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo told India Today on Thursday, echoing Mamata Banerjee’s statements from a day before.

Banerjee after meeting Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi had said, “We want Congress to be with us. Congress should also help in this one-to-one fight. We have spoken to other parties. All states regional parties, in a kind of conclave, should work together."

When the news channel asked Prasad if Congress President Rahul Gandhi will be the face of the Third Front, he said, "We will, however, decide whether Rahul would lead it or not."

Citing example of Bihar 2015 elections, Prasad said if opposition parties unite BJP can be routed. India Today added that he also heaped praise on Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati for uniting with Samajwadi Party in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls, where BJP lost.

Prasad is serving time in a Ranchi jail after he was convicted in four fodder scam cases since 2013 — the latest being the Dumka treasury case, in which a special CBI court sentenced him to 14 years of imprisonment.

The Jharkhand High Court is to hear on 6 April his bail plea in the connection with his conviction in the third fodder scam.