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NAWADA: Kicking off his first, but unscheduled election rally, RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Monday hit out at communal forces, calling them the ‘biggest threat’ to India’s secular fabric.

He also trashed Narendra Modi, branding his rise from his humble ‘tea seller’ background as nothing but hype.

Defining the forthcoming election as “Hastinapur ka Dangal” (decisive fight to capture power in

PRASAD DROPPED HINTS OF AN RJD-CONGRESS ALLIANCE BEING FORMED SOON, CALLING THE CONGRESS A ‘HUMSAFAR’ IN HIS FIGHT AGAINST COMMUNALISM.

New Delhi), Prasad dropped hints of a RJD-Cong alliance being formed soon. He said Congress is a “humsafar” (co-traveller) in his fight to save secularism.

With a call of “Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao”, Prasad attacked Modi for making tall claims. “I too sold tea and stick biscuits during college days in Patna,” Prasad said. “Sawal hai ki desh rahega, ki tootega (the issue is whether the nation will survive or disintegrate),” he cautioned.

Prasad also took pot-shots at his former ally, the LJP, stating that Ram Vilas Paswan had burnt all his ideologies of being a secular politician. “Paswan ne apne vicharo ka holika dahan kar liya hai,” he said. Not sparing Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Prasad charged him with the conspiracy to engineer defections from the RJD.

Prasad’s sudden decision to hold the rally at Nawada was to distract people from Modi’s rally and raise a counterpoint, besides securing it as his own turf.

Nawada has been hotly contested by Congress during alliance talks, party insiders said. But it is uncertain as to whether Prasad would give away the Nawada seat to Congress as the area is considered a RJD stronghold.