Lalu denies he ever belittled JP

PATNA: RJD chief and railway minister Lalu Prasad said on Saturday that he has never belittled Jaya Prakash Narayan popularly known as JP. "But the truth is that JP was ignored when he suggested the name of Jagjivan Ram for the post of prime minister in 1977.
We held a condolence meeting for JP even when he was alive. Even during the student agitation, the ABVP deserted him when he wanted to start the ''Jail Bharo Abhiyan''," Lalu remarked while sticking to his earlier stand that Indira Gandhi had lost the polls not because of the imposition of Emergency but because of the forced sterilisation taking place during that period.
"The people must know the truth," he added. Referring to filmmaker Prakash Jha who has made a documentary on JP, Lalu alleged that Jha is in the habit of kicking off controversies. He recalled how Jha had deliberately named the villain of his film "Ganga Jal" after Sadhu Yadav. He said Jha nurtures political ambitions and had even contested the last Lok Sabha polls from Bettiah.