Meerut, March 28:  As the Lok Sabha elections are drawing closer, the political atmosphere in the country has started to heat up. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Thursday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling an alliance of Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance ‘Sarab (alcohol) alliance’. Lalu Prasad Yadav led-party in a tweet schooled the Prime Minister on the usage of ‘Phonetics.’ PM Narendra Modi Joins Drug-Free India Movement by the Art of Living, Bollywood Too Backs the Campaign to Fight Drug Abuse.

RJD's tweet:

The party tweeted that in the last five years, PM Modi has not learnt to differentiate between ‘Sa’ and ‘Sha’ (Hindi alphabets). Targeting Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah, the RJD said that the actual word ‘Sharab’ which means alcohol comprises letters ‘Sha’ of Shah, ‘Ra’ of Rajnath and ‘B’ of the BJP. Lalu Prasad Yadav led-party alleged that inspite of the liquor ban in Gujarat, ‘Sharab’ is easily available in the state.

PM Modi's speech in which he called alliance of SP, BSP and RLD 'Sarab' alliance:

Earlier in the day during an election rally in Meerut, the PM used wordplay to attack the SP, RLD and BSP alliance, saying the first letters of the three parties spell 'sarab'. It promoted a furious reaction from the opposition at the comparison with alcohol. Terming the SP-RLD-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh 'mahamilavat' (adulterated), Modi compared the opposition parties to 'sarab' -- the Hindi word for liquor is 'sharab'. PM Narendra Modi Takes 'Ulta Chor Chowkidaar Ko Daante' Jibe At Congress, Lists NDA Govt's Achievements During Vote Of Thanks Speech in Lok Sabha, Watch Video.

Akhilesh Yadav's reacting to PM Modi's comment:

Meanwhile, the Congress also asked PM Modi to apologise for comparing the parties to liquor. SP chief accused him of spreading the "intoxication of hatred", saying he didn't know the difference between 'sharab' and 'sarab' (mirage). "Sarab means mirage, which is a blurred dream which the BJP is showing for the past five years but never fulfilled. It is once against showing 'sarab' to people during elections," tweeted Akhilesh.

(With inputs from PTI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 28, 2019 10:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).