Patna, July 27: As the RJD workers protested Nitish Kumar's "betrayal" by blocking roads, the party's leaders hurled verbal missiles at the chief minister.
After a night of high drama that saw Nitish resign and return to the NDA in double quick time, RJD supporters and MLAs started reaching Lalu's 10 Circular Road residence from 8am.
Nitish Kumar hatyara hai (Nitish is a murderer), Nitish Kumar hai hai (shame on Nitish), Nitish ki gundagardi nahi chalegi (Nitish's thuggery will not be tolerated), Mahagathbandhan ko dhokha dene waale jail jayenge (betrayers of the Grand Alliance will go to jail) were some of the slogans raised. Many sat on the road outside 10 Circular Road, shouting slogans such as veer Tejashwi mat ghabrana tere peechhe sara jamana (don't be scared brave Tejashwi, the world is with you) and jab tak suraj chand rahega Tejashwi tera naam rahega (Tejashwi's name will shine forever).
"Nitish is talking about zero tolerance on corruption. Where was his ideology when he formed alliance with Lalu ji?" asked Rahul Tiwary, RJD MLA from Shahpur. "Nitish realised he cannot become PM so he decided to at least remain CM. He could not bear the popularity of Tejashwiji. That's the reason that he secured the CM's post by joining hands with the BJP."
Bhai Birendra, the RJD MLA from Maner, alleged governor Keshari Nath Tripathi had shortchanged the state's single-largest party.
"We had told the governor that we would stake claim to form the government but he did not give us a chance and invited Nitish and the NDA. We have the support of 110 MLAs including left MLAs," Birendra said. "The oath-taking ceremony was supposed to be held at 5pm it was changed to 10am. It shows that the governor has become an orderly of PM Narendra Modi. Nitish has betrayed the Grand Alliance and the people of Bihar. The country will not forgive him. He is not Nitish Kumar but kursi (chair) Kumar."
The district administration had deployed heavy police force around Raj Bhavan and all roads leading towards it. Every road was barricaded and cops stopped RJD workers who reached later in the morning from entering the VVIP road where Lalu lives.
The RJD had called for a protest march to Raj Bhavan from 10am, but the party had to call it off because Section 144 of the CrPC (preventing unlawful assembly) was clamped around the area.
Tejashwi, his brother Tej Pratap Yadav along with senior RJD leaders, however, had gone on a protest march to Raj Bhavan and also sat on dharna there around 1.30am. A five-member delegation comprising Tejashwi, Tej Pratap, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Jagdanand Singh and Congress MLC Dilip Choudhary was allowed to meet governor.
At a press briefing around 1pm at the RJD office, senior leaders including Jagdanand, state unit president Ram Chandra Purbey, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Mundrika Singh and Manoj Jha tore into Nitish. The RJD, vowed Siddiqui, will not allow Assembly proceedings to start unless Nitish resigns. The monsoon session starts on Friday and the NDA government will take a floor test to prove its majority.
Manoj said the RJD will move court as well knock on people's door to "expose" Nitish for "cheating the people's mandate". The governor's decision goes against the SR Bommai vs Union of India case judgment in 1994 - which interpreted under what circumstances a state Assembly can and should be dissolved - and is equivalent to murder of the people's mandate, Jha alleged.
The JDU, on its part, held a press meet around 3pm at the party office on Beer Chand Patel Marg in which Neeraj Kumar, Lallan Singh and RCP Singh attacked Lalu over his murder allegation at Nitish.
Lallan said the RJD chief is a master in twisting facts. Lallan said the investigation found Nitish innocent.
Asked about Lalu terming snapping ties with RJD like murder of a premature baby, Lallan retorted: "We had made the Grand Alliance for the development of Bihar and not for making benami property."
