The stinging remarks of the vice-president of the RJD Raghubansh Prasad Singh against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are not to be ignored lightly even after the JD(U), RJD and Congress leaders lashed out at Singh for his “unsavoury” remarks.
After the results of the UP election, former Union Minister Raghubansh Prasad Singh accused Nitish of helping the BJP by not fielding JD(U) candidates, opting out of election and publicly supporting the demonetisation which, he said, caused confusion among the secular parties and non-BJP voters.
Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said Singh is a senior leader of RJD and should maintain the dignity of the office he holds. “He should avoid issuing such statements. Nitish Kumar is our leader and our maha gathbandhan is rock solid which will not be affected by such cheap remarks,” said Yadav who also advised JD(U) spokesmen to maintain restraint and not react so brazenly.
Former CM Rabri Devi also disliked the comments of Singh and said that he should not have spoken in such a critical manner. “For the sake of the alliance all should maintain restraint and work for strengthening the Mahagathbandhan,” she said.
Singh had earlier said, “All the secular forces should be cautious of the mindset of Nitish Kumar. Before UP polls he held a number of rallies there giving indication that he would help unite all the secular forces in UP too like Bihar but his decision to keep off the polls raised many questions. He did not say a single word against BJP after the election was announced.”
An enraged JD(U) general secretary Shyam Rajak said the RJD should show Singh the door. “Our workers and Nitish supporters are feeling very hurt with the words used by Singh and they may turn violent. It will be better for the RJD to drop Singh before the situation goes out of hands,” said Rajak. JD(U) spokesman Sanjay Singh, “Raghubansh has no locus standi yet he is trying to malign our leader. His statements are intolerable.”
But the RJD vice president was unstoppable. He said, “I am a disciplined soldier of my party and once I get the instruction of party chief I will teach JD(U) a tough lesson.” He accused Nitish of asking his office bearers and spokesmen to abuse him and RJD.
Taking a dig at the CM, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said in view of the war of words among the leaders of RJD, JD(U) and Congress it appeared that grand alliance was on verge of disintegration.