RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Tuesday stepped out in above-40 degrees Celsius heat to campaign for his eldest daughter Misa Bharti, who is contesting from Patliputra, claiming “Modi is gone”.

Lalu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is afraid of a “defeat in the offing” and added that the INDIA bloc would form the government at the Centre.

“The entire nation is witnessing a wave in favour of the INDIA bloc and I have come out to mark my attendance among the people during the ongoing elections. The results will be out on June 4 and we will form the government,” Lalu told reporters.

He said: “Modi is gone. Afraid of the impending defeat, he is rushing to Bihar every now and then. He calls himself an avatar (incarnation) but he will have to go to jail.”

On May 25, during a rally at Karakat in the state, Modi had said that the “people who had looted Bihar will be sent to jail and their countdown has started”.

Though he had not taken names, the threat was considered to be aimed at RJD leaders, including Tejashwi Yadav who has spearheaded the INDIA bloc campaign in Bihar.

While campaigning for Misa, Lalu visited the Imarat-e-Shariah, a Muslim socio-religious organisation based on the cardinal principles of Islam and Shariah laws. He also visited the three-century-old Khanquah Mujeebia, which has a dargah and a library with more than 10,000 books in Arabic and Persian, manuscripts, and the Quran of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Both institutions are in Phulwarisharif on the outskirts of Patna.

Lalu, along with senior RJD leader and former minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui, met religious leaders from the minority community. Sources said the purpose of Lalu’s visit to the institutions was not only to seek votes for Misa but also to send a message to the minority community that he stands firmly behind them, a move seen to further consolidate his Muslim-Yadav support base.

The former Bihar chief minister had previously campaigned for his second daughter Rohini Acharya, in the fray from Saran. He had kept himself away from everyday campaigning because of poor health.

Misa, a Rajya Sabha member, is pitted against sitting MP Ram Kripal Yadav from Patliputra for the third time. Ram Kripal had defeated Misa in 2014 and 2019.

Patliputra votes on June 1