After the result of State bypolls, former Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar has apparently expressed happiness over his alliance with lalu Prasad by giving a lone vacant seat in the State Upper House to a long-time close aide of lalu. lalu Prasad is currently undergoing a heart surgery in a Mumbai hospital.
“After discussions with party leaders of our alliance parties, it has now been decided that Bhola Yadav will be a joint candidate of the alliance for the lone council seat,” said State RJD president Ram Chandra Purvey.Election for the lone vacant seat of the State legislative Council will be held on September 11, September 1 will be the last date for filing nomination papers, as announced on August 25.
Bhola Yadav — a long-time close aide and confidant of the RJD supremo — has confirmed that he would be filing his nomination papers on Thursday.Earlier, lalu Prasad had nominated one of his favorite cook Anwar Ahmad to the State Council. Ahmad was famously known as “kabab mantri” of lalu’s kitchen cabinet.
When asked why JD(U) has decided to forgo with the council seat despite having 119 legislators against RJD’s 24, party leader and MlC Neeraj Kumar admitted that since the RJD had helped his party win two seats in the bypolls, “we also decided to accommodate our alliance partner”. “It has been done under alliance understanding which also stumped the BJP in recently concluded assembly by-poll by winning six seats”, said Neeraj Kumar.
The lone Council seat had fallen vacant following resignation of RJD leader Ghulam Gauss who had later crossed over to JD(U )just before lok Sabha poll. He had also contested the parliamentary polls unsuccessfully as a JD(U)candidate from Madhubani constituency.
“The decision to field Bhola Yadav as an alliance candidate was taken in the best spirit of the newly forged alliance between the two parties. It is being taken for the better future of the nascent alliance”, said JD(U )leader Ghulam Gauss.
When asked has he not been disappointed for denial of his renomination for the seat, despite his party having maximum number of legislators, Gauss said, “When you make an alliance with some other parties you have to accommodate your partners in some way or other. I’m not disappointed at all with the decision,” he added.
In the recently-concluded by-poll for 10 seats, the alliance partners RJD and JD(U )had got three and two seats respectively while their another ally Congress managed to win one seat of Bhagalpur.The bypoll result, though, boosted the sagging morale of the alliance parties which were completely routed by BJP in the last lok Sabha poll.
The two old rivals — lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar —joined their hands together to take on the resurgent BJP and they came out successfully sending message to the country for the viable secular alliance against the saffron surge.