Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad returned to the Bihar stage on Wednesday six years after he last addressed an election meeting.

Lalu vowed to never bow down before the communal forces and tore into the Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance government in Bihar.

The crowd went berserk as Lalu, brimming with confidence and carrying his well-known rustic charm, strode to the stage at Tarapur in Munger district, an Assembly constituency that goes to bypolls along with Kusheshwar Asthan in Samastipur on October 30. His younger son and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was by his side.

Barricades buckled as the people who had assembled to see and hear Lalu invaded the security area in front of the dais at the Idgah Maidan. A sea of mobile phones tracked his movements to capture the moment. Slogans rent the air in such a manner that at times they drowned Lalu’s voice coming out of the loudspeakers.

Asking people to stay united and in harmony, Lalu said: “I got Lal Krishna Advani arrested. I never accepted defeat in front of communal forces. I will never compromise with communalism. They (alluding to BJP) cheat people. People have understood them and will not tolerate them any more.”

The RJD chief attacked the BJP-led government at the Centre for selling off public assets.

“Everything, be it rail or aeroplane, is being sold under its rule. It has not given anything to the people except promises of sending Rs 15 lakh to their bank accounts. What happened to it?” he asked.

Lalu also raised the demand for a caste census that has been rejected by the central government.

“It’s necessary because the population of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and backward castes has increased. The reservation given to them will have to be increased. This is the reason it (BJP) is refusing it. We will have to fight for it (caste census),” he said.

Lalu Prasad at the rally at Kusheshwar Asthan on Wednesday Picture by Sanjay Choudhary

Lalu pointed out that chief minister Nitish had vowed that he would prefer turning to dust but would not shake hands with the BJP.

“He went with the BJP saying that it will grant special status to Bihar and give a ‘double-engine government’ (same government at the Centre and state). But see what has happened. The BJP did not give special status and the engines are pulling in different directions,” Lalu said.

Asserting that the public in the state had given the mandate to form the government to Tejashwi, the RJD chief pointed out that his party and allies lost many seats in the 2020 Assembly polls with a slender margin.

He accused Nitish of tinkering with the results and cheating Tejashwi of the opportunity to form the government and swore revenge.

“I was in jail at that time. Had I been outside, he (Nitish) would not have dared to do so. I will take revenge for this. I had made him chief minister at a time (2015) when the RJD had more seats than his party (Janata Dal United),” Lalu added.

The RJD chief iterated that Tejashwi has already uprooted the government in the state, while he (Lalu) has come for its immersion. “When I told this recently, Nitish said I will get shot. Is this Lalu’s work? Why would I get you killed? You (Nitish) will die on your own,” Lalu said and added that Nitish was a worried man because no work has been done under his rule and unemployment reigned supreme.

“The bypoll is a fight between the government and the people. Nobody can stand against democracy,” he said.

Lalu returned to Patna on Sunday after over three years. He was incarcerated after being convicted in several fodder scam cases and got bail in April this year, but was stuck in Delhi because of health problems.

The RJD chief also made fun of prohibition in the state where rats have been blamed for drinking seized liquor kept at the police stations.

Asking the people to vote for the RJD candidate Arun Kumar Sah in Tarapur at the end of his 10-minute address, Lalu flew to address his second rally at Kusheshwar Asthan.

Bypolls in the two constituencies were necessitated by the demise of their representatives earlier this year. The main contest for both the seats is between the JDU and the RJD, though the Congress, which recently broke away from the Opposition Grand Alliance, has also fielded candidates.

Later, Lalu tweeted his happiness about the large number of people who attended his election rallies and said that he was feeling energised after seeing the crowds.