Former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi has announced that she will join her husband and railway minister Lalu Prasad in performing Chhath Puja in Mumbai.

"I will join my husband to perform Chhath Puja in Mumbai," she said in Patna on Monday.

In February, Lalu Prasad defied the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and said he would perform the Chhath Puja in Mumbai. "If possible, I will go to Mumbai to perform Chhat Puja," he said. His remark had evoked sharp reactions from the MNS and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

Rabri Devi also dared MNS chief Raj Thackeray to stop her and Lalu Prasad from performing Chhath Puja in Mumbai. She said that the MNS chief had hurt her and crores of Biharis by his anti-Chhath remarks.

Rabri Devi, who is the leader of opposition in the Bihar assembly, said people from Bihar were not safe in Maharashtra, claiming that they were being targeted by MNS workers and others who supported MNS' anti-north Indian movement.