Patna: Rebel JDU leader and Rajya Sabha member Sharad Yadav on Friday alleged that chief minister Nitish Kumar's conscience had changed.

Attacking Nitish over the collapse of Grand Alliance, Sharad claimed that he had tried his best to form the Grand Alliance but giving the excuse of propriety, the former broke the alliance. He claimed that RJD chief Lalu Prasad was not game with the idea of projecting Nitish as the chief ministerial candidate before the Assembly results but it was Sharad who convinced Lalu to do so.

"With lot of difficulty we had formed the Grand Alliance for five years. In the Constitution of India, if there is any sovereign power, it is the people who hold the sovereign power. We had an agreement with 11 crore people of Bihar to serve them for five years," said Sharad. "They gave us two-thirds majority in the Assembly polls. Lalu ji was already facing cases but when Nitish sought votes, he did not care about propriety. But while breaking the alliance, he made the same an excuse. Nitish changed his conscience," Sharad said.

The senior parliamentarian whose appeal has been rejected by the Election Commission on the JDU's claim over the arrow symbol was attending the function of Atipichda Swabhiman Samman organised by Aam Janata Party Rashtriya at SK Memorial Hall.

"When the Grand Alliance was formed that time also, there were cases against Lalu ji. But Nitish formed the government. But when an FIR was filed against Tejashwi, which is very common, Nitish gave the excuse of propriety and broke the alliance," Sharad said.

The crowd in the hall was not impressive and half the chairs remained empty. It was quite disappointing for Sharad as well because normally when he addresses such functions at SK Memorial Hall, it gets jam-packed but it was totally different on Friday.

Sharad was accompanied by Aam Janata Party Rashtriya president Vidyapati Chandravanshi and rebel JDU leaders Rajya Sabha member Ali Anwar and former minister Ramai Ram.

Slamming Nitish for taking sides with the BJP to form the government, Sharad said: "Do you all remember what Nitish used to say that he will never go with the BJP? He used to give slogan of Sangh Mukt Bharat. I do not endorse such things because in democracy, the word comes out from the mouth is important."

He warned people not to make mistake in identifying politicians. "Make mistake in choosing son-in-law but never make mistake in choosing the politician," Sharad asserted. He added that people do not talk about the issue of unemployment, poverty, ill-impacts of GST and demonetisation.

Sharad mocked Nitish's campaign of sending hair and nail to the PMO. "When PM raised questions over the DNA, Nitish asked people to send hair and nail. I was the only person from Bihar who had not even reacted to the PM's DNA comment because during elections, such things happen," Sharad said.