File Photo: Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
Amidst the ongoing Assembly polls in Bihar, JD(U) today slammed the NDA-led central government over the rise in the prices of pulses and agrarian crisis and sought the resignation of Ram Vilas Paswan and Radha Mohan Singh, two Union ministers hailing from the state.
The party, contesting the elections as a constituent of the grand secular alliance along with RJD and Congress, claimed that NDA's priority was to win the election at a time when consumers and farmers across the country have been left to suffer.
"Thanks to the anti-farmer and consumer policies followed by the government, the main course of the debate has shifted from issues like intolerance to the rising prices of dal (pulses).
"While consumers are suffering due to price rise and farmers because of the agrarian crisis, the ministers concerned are busy in Bihar polls," charged JD(U) leader KC Tyagi told reporters in New Delhi.
He said that JD(U) demands the resignation of Mr Paswan and Mr Singh, respectively, the ministers of Consumer Affairs and Agriculture "owing to their failure in handling the situation".
The JD(U) parliamentarian further said that the issue of price rise will be high on the agenda for the grand alliance in the remaining three phases of the polls.
"We are leading in the first two phases of the elections. We will go to the people with the issue of 'dal aur bhaat' (pulses and rice) over the next three phases," he said while exuding confidence about the grand alliance's success.
"Humare bure din hai, lekin November 8 ke baad unke bure din aayenge (Presently, it is a bad phase for us, but theirs (BJP's) will begin after November 8, when results for the Assembly election are declared," he added.
Mr Tyagi, meanwhile, welcomed Congress's initiative to bring together all like-minded democratic, secular and progressive parties.
Accusing PM Modi government of failing to take action against forces spreading hatred, Congress had yesterday said it will make efforts to bring all like-minded parties together to press for "tangible action" to thwart the "diabolical plan".