Ram Vilas Paswan’s Daughter Slams Him Over ‘Angootha Chhap’ Remark Aimed at RJD Leader Rabri Devi, Demands Apology

"Papa has insulted Rabri Devi. My mother too was uneducated — a reason why he abandoned her. He must apologise or else I will stage a dharna in front of the LJP office," Asha said.

New Delhi: Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ram Vilas Paswan’s estranged daughter Asha Paswan on Saturday slammed her father for making a veiled attack on Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Rabri Devi over the party’s opposition to the Centre’s quota bill and demanded an apology from him.

She also threatened to stage a dharna at the LJP’s office. “Papa has insulted Rabri Devi. My mother too was uneducated — a reason why he abandoned her. He must apologise or else I will stage a dharna in front of the LJP office,” Asha said.

Paswan had remarked, “They (RJD) believe in merely raising slogans and making ‘angootha chhap’ (illiterate person) the chief minister.”

Paswan, whose party will contest the upcoming general election along with JD(U) and BJP in Bihar, had at a press conference on Friday attacked the opposition RJD for opposing the NDA-led government’s bill to provide 10 per cent reservation for the economically backward in general category.

The remark was seen as a reference to the events of 1997 when RJD chief Lalu Prasad had to step down as Bihar chief minister as he faced arrest in the fodder scam cases and his wife, Rabri Devi, who has little formal education, was appointed as his successor.

Asha Paswan’s is the Union Minister’s daughter from his first marriage. Her husband, Arun Sadhu, had joined the RJD last year.

(With agency inputs)