Patna, Mar 5 (IANS): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday criticised RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav over his remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Finance Minister said that it is highly disappointing that a senior leader like Lalu Prasad Yadav has given such a statement.

“It is very important to maintain dignity in politics,” Finance Minister Sitharaman said.

She said that the BJP has given an appropriate answer to Lalu Prasad Yadav.

“PM Modi rightly said that 140 crore people of the country are his family and entire countrymen consider him their family member. Such a frivolous statement is not right, especially from the person who has spent all these decades in the politics of the country,” she said.

Notably, Lalu Prasad while responding to the Prime Minister's accusation of using dynastic politics to undermine opposition parties, particularly the RJD, had said during a rally of the INDIA bloc in Patna, “What can we do if PM Modi does not have a family of his own?"

“PM Modi’s boasts about the Ram temple are endless, but he is not even a Hindu. Following the passing of parents, a son is required by Hindu tradition to shave both his head and beard. PM Modi had not done so upon the demise of his mother,” the RJD patriarch had also said.

Reacting to Lalu Prasad’s jibe, the Prime Minister said: “My life is an open book. The 140-crore people in this nation are my family. Modi's family today consists of crores of the country’s daughters, mothers, and sisters. My family is every impoverished person in the nation. Modi belongs to those who have no one else, and they belong to Modi.”

The BJP has started a campaign of “Modi ka Parivar” and top leaders of the party including Amit Shah. J P Nadda changed their bio in the X handle to counter Lalu Yadav’s personal attack against PM Modi.