Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Wednesday challenged Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to field any candidate from his family against him, pledging to retire from electoral politics if he was defeated and daring Mr. Yadav to pledge the same if the BJP leader won the contest.
Mr. Rai’s statement came a day after the RJD chief had issued his own challenge, claiming that if his son Tej Pratap Yadav contested against him, Mr. Rai would lose even his security deposit.
“I am ready for the challenge but there is a request to Lalu ji that he should send anyone from his family to contest elections from Ujiarpur [which is Mr. Rai’s Lok Sabha seat]. If I lose, I will retire from the electoral politics of Bihar and will work as the booth president of BJP for the rest of my life. If his family member is defeated, then he will retire from Bihar politics,” Mr. Rai said, speaking to the media in Patna.
