A poster demanding Bharat Ratna for Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday became a bone of contention between the RJD and the NDA in Bihar.

The poster, signed by an office-bearer of RJD’s SC/ST cell, was put up near the party’s Birchand Patel Marg office in Patna, according to PTI.

The slogan on the poster read: “Leader of Social Justice and Bihar Lalu Prasad’s vote to be conferred with Bharat Ratna”. It also contained a photograph of the RJD supremo with the caption “Messiah! Our God!” HT cannot independently verify this poster.

Reacting to it, JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad claimed that this was an insult to the ‘Bharat Ratna’.

“I would have treated it as a joke if we were near the Holi festival. But since the demand has been made by RJD seriously, I would request them not to insult (tauheen) Bharat Ratna,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.

JD(U) state spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar also ridiculed the demand and questioned why Lalu Prasad would get a Bharat Ratna.

“Why would Lalu ji get a Bharat Ratna? The high standards of corruption, casteism, dynasty politics and patronage to criminals set by him would make any Ratna (jewel) lose its luster in shame,” he alleged.

Former state BJP president and deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary said Lalu Prasad should be given the title of ‘Loot Ratna’.

“In recognition of his financial misdeeds, Lalu Prasad gets the title of Loot Ratna.”

The RJD, however, responded to the episode by highlighting that Yadav was giving voice to the marginalized.

“Talk to any rickshaw puller or worker in Bihar. He will tell you that it was Lalu ji who gave them a vote. All OBC and Dalit leaders in Bihar, irrespective of party, owe their political fortunes to the social revolution brought in by our leader,” said RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmed, according to PTI.

The Congress, which is in alliance with the RJD in the INDIA bloc, offered a guarded response.

“Every party has such sentiments for its leader. There is nothing unusual about it. Also, we cannot deny the fact that among all the leaders in Bihar, Lalu has the largest support base,” said state Congress media cell in-charge Rajesh Rathore. quoted by PTI.

Prasad is currently serving sentences in a number of fodder scam cases and is currently out on bail. He has also been disqualified from contesting polls due to convictions in the cases.

Notably, last month a poster demanding the highest civilian award for Nitish Kumar had been put up outside his JD(U) office, according to PTI.