The Congress’ support to Nitish has pushed RJD supremo lalu Prasad into a corner in his standoff with the Janata Dal (United) on alliance talks for the Bihar Assembly polls. lalu has reportedly spoken to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday. He also sent his close aide Bhola Yadav to discuss resumption of alliance talks on Wednesday.
Bhola Yadav tried to step out the Chief Minister’s residence unnoticed, but was caught by a TV channel’s camera. “Everything is alright. There is no problem,” he said. When asked about the caustic remarks by RJD's senior leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on almost a daily basis against Nitish Kumar, Yadav quipped, “Those are all their personal views, not the party’s stand.” Yadav reportedly called on Nitish at the behest of lalu to clarify the RJD’s official stand. lalu conveyed that he was very much in favour of an alliance.
According to reliable sources, lalu had telephonic talks with Nitish at least thrice on Tuesday amid the heat generated on the leadership issue. The JD(U) has rejected Raghuvansh’s claim that the leader of the alliance should be elected after the Assembly polls. The JD(U) leadership is clear that the party would not compromise over the projection of Nitish as chief ministerial candidate. lalu reportedly conveyed to Nitish that this issue could be settled in a one-to-one meeting and alliance would materialise at any cost.
Sources revealed that the meeting between lalu and Nitish would be held once other issues are settled between senior leaders of both the parties. JD(U) president Sharad Yadav, who had met lalu twice a few days ago, is expected to have another round of talks with the RJD chief on Saturday on his return from Madhepura.
The Congress' stand that the party would prefer to project Nitish as the chief ministerial face has forced RJD leadership, who had been insisting on non projection of any leader before the polls, to mellow down their stand.
There are two thoughts in the JD(U) over the alliance with the RJD. While one section strongly favours for alliance with lalu, there is another section which feels that JD(U) would be in the advantageous position if the party enters into an alliance with the Congress ignoring lalu. “There cannot be any compromise on the leadership issue. Nitish Kumar is our USP and his style of governance has attained public credibility across the country,” said a senior Minister. He also maintained that when the JD(U) was in alliance with the BJP, the party never compromised on its agenda and the BJP did not succeed in influencing the JD(U).
Another Minister said the combination of JD(U), RJD and Congress would be a formidable force to take the BJP head on. He also insisted that Nitish would remain the leader. But the Transport Minister Ramai Ram, known for creating ripples with his statements and acts, shared the views of RJD's Raghubansh Singh. Ram said, “The leader should be elected after the election with the consent of all. Nitish is the leader of JD(U) not of alliance.” Meanwhile, Nitish on Wednesday started his exercise of meeting the office-bearers of the district units of the party and its various cells. He would meet the party men from four districts everyday and take feedback from them on the pre-poll scenario.