In an apparent bid to divert the attention of the media, political class and common people from the controversial RJD leader Mohammad Shahabuddin, party supremo lalu Prasad made a surprising statement favouring Nitish Kumar as most suitable candidate for the post of Prime Minister.
lalu’s untimely statement is seen as his attempt to kill two birds with one stone; to subside the Shahabuddin mania gripping the media and society and also to please Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and JD(U) which were angry over Siwan strongman’s caustic remarks against Nitish.
Soon after his release from Bhagalpur jail on September 7, the four time RJD MP had been hitting headlines almost every day either with his statements or reports about his bail being challenged in the Supreme Court. The RJD was anything but defensive on Shahabuddin issue with no leader of the party coming forward either to support his utterances or distancing from it.
Shahabuddin while stepping out of the jail made highly critical remarks calling Nitish a CM of circumstances and later saying he was not scared of Government’s bid to move the apex court for cancellation of his bail granted by the Patna High Court.
Only RJD vice president Raghubansh Prasad Singh came out to support Shahbuddin’s contention but other leaders preferred to keep silence. But Nitish as well as the leaders of his party were visibly annoyed over those utterances and even urged lalu to rein in his leaders.
It is not known what lalu did to control his motor mouthed leaders except for calling a truce and blaming BJP for creating rift in the grand alliance but the politically shrewd leader tried to douse the flames by saying that Nitish would be his first preference for the PM post. As expected, the JD(U) leaders cheered RJD supremo’s statement.
lalu did not clarify what prompted him to make such a statement about two and a half years before the lok Sabha polls in 2019 but his statement is seen as a rebuttal to Shahabuddin’s “CM by circumstances” remarks that had angered JD(U) rank and file and made Nitish uncomfortable.
The statement was however not taken kindly by the Congress, another ally of grand alliance, which is refusing to consider any other person for the PM post other than Rahul Gandhi. While lalu mentioned some more names who he saw as PM probable like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee and J Jayalalitha but declined to mention name of Rahul. When queried about Congress vice president’s prospects, lalu said, “Congress has not announced Rahul’s name as PM candidate.”
On Nitish, the RJD boss reacted, “I am reiterating my stand in favour of Nitish. My party will support him and for us he is our first preference.”
lalu’s son and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav too publicly declared that Nitish would be the fittest candidate for the top post. “I have no qualm to say that Nitish ji is more able and experienced leader than Narendra Modi. As a matter of fact BJP will not come back to power in 2019, he said and like his father said that so far Rahul has not been declared PM candidate by Congress.
“The Congress leaders of Bihar should say if they would not be happy if a Bihari becomes PM. I am sure Bihar Congress chief Ashok Choudhary will also be very happy if Nitish becomes PM for as a Minister he is working under him and knows Nitish’s ability and caliber,” said Tejashwi. But the Congress leaders remained adamant on their stand. Choudhary is currently in Boston (USA).