Jailed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav demanded Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, for Dalit icon Kanshi Ram on Thursday.

Yadav, who is lodged in a jail in Ranchi following conviction in fodder scam cases, expressed his desire while wishing the late founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on his 84th birth anniversary.

“My respects to great revolutionary Manyavar Kanshi Ram. An unprecedented alliance of Bahujans have given the perfect tribute on his birth anniversary by defeating ‘manuwadi’ and divisive forces,” he wrote referring to the SP-BSP alliance which gave a shocking defeat to the BJP at the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh.

“The respected Kanshi Ram should be honoured with the Bharat Ratna without delay,” the 69-year-old Lalu demanded.

महान क्रांतिकारी मान्यवर कांशीराम जी की जयंती पर कोटि-कोटि प्रणाम एवं शत्-शत् नमन। उनकी जयंती के अवसर पर बहुजनों के अभूतपूर्व गठबंधन ने मनुवादी और विभाजनकारी शक्तियों को परास्त कर एक सच्ची श्रद्धांजलि अर्पित की है।

मान्यवर कांशीराम जी को अविलंब भारत रत्न दिया जाए। #KanshiRam

— Lalu Prasad Yadav (@laluprasadrjd) March 15, 2018

Kanshi Ram, who passed away in 2006, founded BSP in 1984 and remained its president till 2003 when he passed the baton to Mayawati.

Read More: Rahul Gandhi hails BSP founder Kanshi Ram on his birth anniversary

This is not the first time that a demand for Bharat Ratna for Kanshi Ram has been raised. In March 2016, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal had, during his Punjab election campaigning, demanded the highest civilian honour for the Dalit icon.

The RJD is one of the many anti-BJP forces who are angling to form a grand alliance with other parties ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

On Wednesday, the BJP lost both Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh which were held by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, respectively.

The loss at Gorakhpur was a shocker for BJP, which is in power in the state. The seat has been with the party since 1989 and Yogi Adityanath was a five-time MP from Gorakhpur before becoming Chief Minister.

Buoyed by the victories in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, opposition parties called for a unity among parties. Two days before the results, Sonia Gandhi held a dinner for anti-BJP parties at 10 Janpath.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav held a meeting with Mayawati on Wednesday night. The same day Congress president Rahul Gandhi met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar at the latter’s residence.