Hours after he derided Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an NRI or Non Resident Indian because of his foreign visits, Bihar politician Lalu Yadav was described as “expired medicine” by former friend turned BJP ally Ram Vilas Paswan.
“Lalu is expiry date medicine,” said Mr Paswan, the Food and Public Distribution Minister in the Modi government. His son Chirag, an MP, added, “Laluji is sick. He should take rest.”
Lalu Yadav had earlier said, “Narendra Modi is no more the country’s prime minister. He is an NRI. The media is portraying that Modi’s popularity is booming abroad when there is trouble at our borders.”
The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief’s jibe at PM Modi, who is currently on a three-nation tour, came after Congress leader Salman Khurshid questioned the large crowds at the prime minister’s events abroad and suggested that people were flown from India to cheer for him.
“It is easy to gather a crowd and give speeches. If you don’t believe me, check flight tickets,” Mr. Khurshid was quoted as saying by a news agency on Sunday.
In a blog, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sneered at Mr. Khurshid’s “fascinating claim.”
Mr. Jaitley wrote, “If UPA leaders, during their days in Government, left the expatriate Indian population underwhelmed, is it to be presumed that this should be true for others? I can understand the plight of Salman and his party colleagues particularly when Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets a larger crowd in Sydney than what Salman’s leader gets in India.”
PM Modi left for Fiji on Tuesday evening after completing his Australia visit.
With this tour, he will have visited nine countries in six foreign trips since taking charge in May. Reports suggest the tours amount to around 30 days abroad in six months, more than any other prime minister, a fact that the opposition has used to target Mr. Modi.
