Misa Bharti
Credit: PTI Photo
Patna: RJD MP Misa Bharti on Saturday made a tongue-in-cheek remark on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "unfulfilled" promise of enjoying tea sweetened with sugar produced in mills of Bihar, which have been lying moribund for decades.
Bharti, who is the eldest daughter of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, claimed that the state's sugar industry has "not been revived so far" and wondered whether the PM has given up on his promise because of "diabetes".
"The PM is enjoying his third consecutive term in office and has not fulfilled any of the promises he made before the ascent to power," alleged the Pataliputra MP.
She added, "Hailing from Bihar, I remember the rhetorical flourish with which he had told the state's people that sugar mills of Bihar will be revived and he will himself savour tea sweetened with the produce. Why did he not fulfil his own promise? Has he developed diabetes?".
Responding to queries from journalists, she also termed "One nation one poll" as a "shigoofa" (gimmick) of the Modi government and said, "They are not able to hold polls to four states together. What to speak of the entire country".
The allusion was to assembly polls for Maharashtra and Jharkhand taking place about a month after elections were held in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.
The RJD leader, whose party is a constituent of I.N.D.I.A. bloc, also asserted that she was confident of the coalition's victory "in all assembly polls and by-polls".
She, however, voiced disapproval of derogatory remarks made by Arvind Sawant, an MP of Shiv Sena (UBT), against a candidate of the Eknath Shinde-led faction.
"Political differences aside, no offensive remarks should be made about a woman, even if she happens to be a rival", said Bharti when her attention was drawn to Sawant's jibe against Shaina NC, who was formerly with BJP.
The RJD MP also fulminated against inflammatory remarks made by Union Minister Giriraj Singh in course of the recently held Hindu Swabhiman Yatra.
"It is appalling that a union minister can ask people to rain a hundred blows on somebody and get away with it", she fumed.
She also questioned the BJP's "silence" over formation of a new outfit by ex-union minister RCP Singh who had joined the saffron party after being forced to quit Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U).
She also slammed Prashant Kishor, the founder of Jan Suraaj, for making promises "he never asked BJP and Nitish to fulfil while he was handling their campaign".