Lalu Yadav is currently lodged in the Ranchi jail in connection with fodder scam cases.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav today claimed that the Narendra Modi government has caused untold hardships to the public through demonetisation, job cuts and "imposing restrictions on free thought", and the people will teach the Prime Minister a lesson by not voting for him in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The English translation, however, cannot capture the poetry of his original tweet, which goes: Usne notebandi hi nahi, rojgaarbandi bhi ki hain, aur yuvaon ki sochbandi bhi... Ab janata karegi kamal ke phool ki votebandi. Although he did not mention PM Modi by name, the reference was obvious.
Despite being lodged in the Ranchi jail in connection with the fodder scam, the former Bihar Chief Minister continues to be active on social media through people close to him. Earlier, he had compared the Modi government's controversial decision in 2016 to scrap currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations to the infamous Emergency-era initiative of forced sterilisation.
His party, meanwhile, seems to have drawn inspiration from the Kolkata Knight Riders anthem to coin a fresh election slogan in Bhojpuri. The slogan - Kare Ke Ba, Lade Ke Ba, Jeete Ke Ba (closely resembling the IPL team's war cry of Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re) - was shared by Lalu Yadav's son Tejashwi Yadav on his official Twitter handle. It translates to: "We shall do, we shall fight and we shall win."
For the first time, the RJD will be contesting the Lok Sabha elections without Lalu Yadav - its founding president - leading the campaign with remarks peppered with native witticism and earthy humour.
The party has formed an alliance with the Congress and a number of smaller parties to take on the ruling NDA comprising the Janata Dal (United), the BJP and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party.
(With inputs from PTI)