New Delhi: In a stunning twist to the Bihar political drama, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav mentioned that he was keen to welcome again his former ally and present rival Nitish Kumar, who had ditched the opposition coalition final month to hitch fingers with the BJP. Lalu Yadav, who had referred to as Nitish Kumar a ‘paltu’ (turncoat) after his sudden change, advised ANI, “(J)ab aayenge toh dekhenge, khula hi rehta hai darwaaza… (When he comes, we will see… door is always open.”
The assertion got here days after the 2 veteran leaders met for the primary time because the break up on the Bihar Assembly, the place Lalu Yadav’s get together was nominating its Rajya Sabha candidates. The assembly was seen as an indication of thaw within the strained relationship between the 2, who’ve been buddies and foes for many years, and have dominated the state’s politics because the Nineteen Seventies.
However, Nitish Kumar, who’s now the chief minister of the BJP-JDU alliance, had made it clear final week that he had no intention of going again to the opposition camp, which he had accused of being corrupt and inefficient.
He had advised reporters, “…we (the BJP and the JDU) were together earlier (but) twice I went ‘idhar, udhar (here, there)’. Now I have come (back). I will be there permanently now.”
Lalu Yadav’s son, Tejashwi Yadav, who had served because the deputy chief minister underneath Nitish Kumar twice, had additionally lashed out at his former boss in the course of the belief vote this week, and questioned his credibility and morality.
The two leaders, who’re sometimes called ‘bada bhai, chhota bhai (big brother, little brother)’ in Bihar, have had an extended and complicated historical past of alliance and rivalry, courting again to their days as scholar activists.
They had parted methods within the post-Mandal period, after they fought bitterly for the backward caste votes, and had reunited in 2013, after they fashioned the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) with the Congress to tackle the BJP.
The Mahagathbandhan had gained the 2015 meeting polls, however Nitish Kumar had walked out of it in 2017, after corruption prices have been levelled in opposition to Lalu Yadav and his household.
He had then rejoined the BJP-led NDA, which he had left in 2013 over Narendra Modi’s prime ministerial candidature.
Last month, Nitish Kumar had as soon as once more modified sides, and left the NDA to rejoin the Mahagathbandhan, citing ideological variations with the BJP.
However, inside weeks, he had switched again to the NDA, after he was reportedly sad with the Congress and the RJD over governance points, seat-sharing preparations, and social media assaults. His newest transfer had triggered a political storm in Bihar, and had uncovered the fragility of the opposition unity forward of the overall elections.
