Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday tried to fight the fire ignited by the statement of Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav on the merger of Janata Parivar constituents and said there was no question of going back and the efforts for the merger would bear fruit at the appropriate time.
Yadav, a kin of Samajwadi Party supreme Mulayam Singh Yadav, in a statement in New Delhi on Sunday, had created a storm by saying it would be like signing a death warrant if the merger was hurried and in Bihar the better option for the JD(U) and the RJD was to go for an alliance. The statement came as a rude shock to the parties in Bihar which had been trying hard for almost a year for the merger in order to take on the might of the BJP.
Nitish, however, put a brave face while facing the media after holding his weekly janata darbar. When asked about the merger jolt, he with his trademark smile recited a couplet of Rahim: Dheere, dheere re mana, dheere sab kuch hoye; Maali siche sau ghada, ritu aaye phal hoye (Slowly slowly O mind, everything in own pace happens, gardener may water with a hundred pots, fruit arrives only in its season).
Kumar repeated the last line ‘ritu aaye phal hoye’ (the tree will bear the fruit only when season comes) at least a dozen times to evade further comment. “There is nothing to worry and nothing will happen before time. Everything is going on the right track and positive results will emerge. The merger has been finalised and declared and Mulayam has been accepted as the leader of the new party and chairman of the Parliamentary Board,” said Kumar.
Admitting that there could be different views in process of the merger, Kumar also cautioned that giving reactions everyday would not be fair. “The merger process will not be influenced by different opinions,” he quipped, without taking the name of Ram Gopal Yadav.
Meanwhile, RJD boss lalu Prasad said SP leader Yadav has spoken about some technical issues and suggested that the two parties in Bihar should make alliance in Assembly polls. “We will discuss the matter and decide,” Yadav said, while admitting that the merger was caught in technicalities.
As expected, Yadav’s statement has brought glee in the Opposition camp, particularly the NDA and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM. BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said his party was ready to face lalu Prasad and Nitish whether merger or alliance. “They will continue fighting and enacting drama of unity but the people has already distanced itself from the duo,” he said, adding that it would be an advantage for the BJP if lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar and the Congress fight in alliance. The BJP would be in a position to remind the people about the jungle raj of lalu and serial scams of the Congress regime. While Nitish, he said, is frequently visiting Delhi leaving governance behind, lalu’s interference has increased in the administration.
Former CM Manjhi said there was absolutely no scope of merger because of the egoism by lalu and Nitish.
The Chief Minister denied differences in the matter of seat-sharing and leadership. “There might be some technical issues which would be thrashed amicably,” he said. To a query, the CM said talks were on for sharing seats for the election to fill 24 seats in the legislative Council from the local bodies. He said JD(U) State president Bashishtha Narain Singh has been empowered to talk to the RJD, the Congress and the CPI. He said his party favoured broader unity by including the Congress and the CPI in seat-sharing in the Assembly election.
Kumar hit at the Narendra Modi Government which is going to complete one year in office and said it utterly failed in fulfilling even one promise. “With the Assembly elections in Bihar approaching, the BJP leaders are doling out promises almost daily. But nobody will believe them as in one year he proved that promises are made not to deliver,” he said. Taking pot-shots at the Prime Minister, he added, “The good news is that the Prime Minister is staying back in India for sometime and doing some yatra (travel) in the country.”