JD U member takes swipe at Lalu Yadav for Harvard University invite

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) Janata Dal member Sanjay Kumar Jha on Wednesday took a swipe at former union minister Lalu Prasad Yadav for being invited to deliver a lecture at Harvard University on the turnaround of the Railways while he was out on bail in a corruption case, prompting a strong objection from RJD's Manoj Kumar Jha.
    While participating in a discussion on the working of the Ministry of Railways in the Rajya Sabha, the JD(U) member highlighted the achievements of party chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar when he was the Railways Minister.
    He further said there has been a notable increase in the Rail Budget allocation for Bihar under the present government, with the state getting over Rs 10,000 crore in the 2025-26 Budget.
     JD (U) and RJD have been arch rivals in Bihar politics, even though they have shared power in the state as part of the Mahagathbandhan.
    Without naming the ex-Bihar Chief Minister and RJD supremo, the JD(U) member said a former railway minister was called by Harvard University for an event, which was "a huge question mark", considering that the concerned person was out on bail for the "land-for-jobs scam" and the "IRCTC scam".
    The RJD member raised a strong objection to the remarks on Yadav, citing Rule 245, and demanded that they should be expunged.
    Rajeev Shukla, who was in the Chair at the time, said the issue will be scrutinised even though he has already made it clear that the name of a person who is not present in the House cannot be mentioned.
    "...You will pass remarks on Lalu ji while being here... such remark must be expunged," Jha said.
    Participating in the discussion, members from the Opposition parties raised the issue of rail accidents and made various suggestions to improve their functioning.
    Ashok Kumar Mittal of the Aam Aadmi Party said no officer has been held accountable for the loss of lives in the New Delhi railway station incident involving Kumbh Mela travellers even after one month has passed.
    Ramji Lal Suman of the Samajwadi Party demanded that the reservation quota for sports persons should be doubled from 5 per cent at present to 10 per cent.
    Abdul Wahab of IUML said the cutdown of sleeper coaches in favour of more AC coaches has significantly affected the passengers. More special trains according to the festival calendar need to be introduced.
    Congress member Syed Naseer Hussain claimed that multiple railway accidents have taken place even as lakhs of railway posts are lying vacant. He further said that the operational cost of Railways has been rising, leading to lower profits.
    He demanded that railway concessions, which were discontinued during the Covid, be restored for the media, senior citizens and ex-servicemen.
    Maya Naroliya of the BJP outlined the government's "notable achievements" related to Railways, including rapid electrification of the rail network, establishment of new tracks and introduction of world-class Vande Bharat trains, among others.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)