Patna: 'Birthday Boy' Laloo Prasad Yadav, who turned 56 on June 11, says that advancing age was not something to be celebrated.

"Fifty-five years have gone by. What is there to celebrate?" the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president asked when reporters wished him happy returns of the day.

Asked how he planned to celebrate the day, Yadav said he did not have any plans. "People celebrate my birthday," he said.

In his typical witty style, he hastened to add that there was no record of his year of birth. Nobody has maintained the date.

The former Bihar Chief Minister, however, plans to celebrate his birthday in a different way. The day communal forces are wiped out from the country, I will celebrate my birthday, he says.

To a question about his political agenda, Yadav said his first and foremost task was to rid the country of communal forces.

On the Ayodhya issue, he said it was unfortunate that religious leaders like the Sankaracharya were getting themselves involved in the dispute instead of spending their time on worshipping god and doing social service.

The RJD leader declined to comment on the recent replacement of the Bihar Pradesh Congress chief, saying it was an internal matter of that party.

PTI