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Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad Yadav said on Sunday that the merger of six Janata Parivar parties to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party has already "happened" and Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav would make a formal announcement.
"The merger of six Janata Parivar parties has already happened. It's final and formal announcement will be done by Mulayam Singh Yadav. We all will come under one flag and one symbol to counter the BJP which has cheated the country," Prasad said.
The RJD Chief was speaking to media persons after the daylong national executive meeting of his party got over at a posh hotel here in the state capital.
Over 250 representatives from 21 states, including leaders like Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, Bihar RJD President Ram Chandra Purve and others were present on the occasion.
Speaking further on the merger, Prasad said there should be no doubts regarding the merger henceforth and indicated that other "secular" parties may too be invited to join the new entity that emerges out of it.
"Merger means merger. There should be no doubts about it. Only one symbol and not other shall remain because different symbols will create confusion among the public. We will also ask other secular parties to join the new party tow combat communalism," he added.
The six Janata Parivar parties which are in the process of merging together to taken on BJP and its allied parties are RJD, SP, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led Janata Dal-United, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda led Janata Dal-Secular, Om Prakash Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal and Samajwadi Janata Party.
Asked about who will be the leader of the new party after the merger, Prasad said, "It would be declared only after the new party is formed."
Attacking the saffron party, Prasad said, "I charge that BJP is the cheater of the country. Its organisation is based on cheating. It is a party based on lies."
He added that the BJP cheated the people of their votes by first promising to bring back Rs 26.5 lakh crore of black money, stashed outside the country and depositing Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh in everybody's bank accounts and then saying it was just a "jumla" or a "diplomatic expression".
The RJD leader also charged the BJP of reneging on its promise of creating 2 crore jobs for the youth every year, and bringing a Land Acquisition Bill that would be very harmful to the farmers.
"The BJP promised work to every hand and water to every field, but the country is seeing exactly opposite. Jobs have been frozen. It also termed Mahatma Gandhi as a ‘British Agent’. We are not letting go of these things," he said.
"The attention of the entire country is now focused on merger and Bihar Assembly polls later this year. They are hopeful that the 'khota' (beehive) of Narendra Modi will be rooted out from here. Even the BJP is afraid of the scenario that is emerging," he added.
Prasad also pooh-poohed the claims of the BJP that Bihar was witnessing 'jungle raj 2' under the JD-U rule supported by RJD.
"It (BJP) has no right to say such a thing because it has turned the entire country into a 'mahajungle' (huge forest)," he added.
The RJD President skirted questions regarding his successor saying his whole family was in the party and the national executive meet was not called to choose his successor.
"Am I not still present or what," asked Prasad, but pointed that only "a son can succeed a father".