Mystery over united biggies

The biggest mystery about the alliance between the JDU and the RJD is the public appearance of former chief ministers Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad together.

Talks of Nitish and Lalu joining hands to stop the BJP have been doing the rounds after the debacle of their parties in the Lok Sabha polls. The RJD and the JDU have signed a pact for the ensuing Assembly bypolls. But the two biggies are yet to be seen together. When Nitish went to Delhi last time, there were strong rumours that he would meet Lalu. But JDU national general secretary K.C. Tyagi said the duo spoke over the phone. Nitish remained evasive on the issue of a joint campaign. “That will depend on the chalked out programme. The main reason behind the tie-up is to ensure the defeat of the BJP,” he said. The BJP leaders have started teasing their JDU counterparts claiming that even the thought of a joint show with Lalu was too demoralising for Nitish.

Hard to forget

The state JDU chief, Bashishtha Narayan Singh, recently appealed to the party leaders and workers to forget the past when they termed Lalu-Rabri regime jungle and kidnapping raj. But some leaders said it would be difficult. “We might utter those words again while addressing public meetings because old habits die hard. Also, we might try to forget the past but the BJP will make all efforts to ensure that the people do not forget what we used to say about the Lalu and Rabri raj,” said a JDU minister.

Kin poll claim contrast

Sons and daughters of politicians have started flexing their muscles to take a plunge in the next Assembly polls. According to RJD sources, at least three children of Lalu and Rabri would contest. “Earlier, there was just one durbar in our party. But there might be half a dozen in the future,” said an RJD leader, fuming over pariwarwad (dynasty rule). The BJP has a different story. Its MP Ashwini Kumar Choubey has made public statements declaring that he never proposed the name of his son for the Bhagalpur Assembly seat. The BJP sources indicated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had warned a Bihar MP against stressing on fielding his son. “Since then, all the MPs have backed out,” said a BJP leader.