Patna, Feb. 16: Nitish Kumar the Arjun hardly needs Lalu Prasad the Krishna even if a merger or an alliance of the parties takes place sooner or later.
Also, Nitish has no wish to share space with Jitan Ram Manjhi anymore, as was shown in a poster.
It was clearly evident after a poster depicting Lalu and Nitish as characters from the Mahabharat in front of Nitish's 7 Circular Road residence was pulled down on the occupant's order.
Nitish has always tried to project that he would chart his own course and governance if he gets a chance to form the government. However, his party workers think differently. A few of Nitish supporters came up with the poster - splashed across the city - showing Lalu the guiding force behind Nitish.
The poster's picture takes a cue from the Mahabharat's battle of Kurukshetra where Arjun takes guidance from his charioteer Krishna in the war against the Kauravas. A JDU worker said the poster was put up in the context of 2015 Assembly elections having Nitish's message: "Development with justice".
A few days ago, the JDU had started a cartoon war against the BJP and came out with a series of pictures, ridiculing Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the BJP issued a poster showing Nitish falling at the feet of Lalu and smiling Manjhi shown happily seating on the throne.
Now, the JDU's own poster has not gone well with Nitish which forced him to order its removal from every nook and cranny of the state capital.
Besides Manjhi, the poster also has pictures of eminent JDU leaders, including senior leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, state party chief Bashishtha Narayan Singh, Rajya Sabha members RCP Singh and MP Ghulam Rasool Baliyavi apart from its national president Sharad Yadav.
One of the close aides of Nitish said: "Nitish ji did not like the way he was shown in the poster as he always claims that he would set up the rule of governance even though the party is in alliance with the RJD, which epitomises 'Jungle Raj'. But what angered Nitish the most was the picture of Manjhi in the group of all JDU leaders. There was no logic of putting Manjhi's picture in that group."
One of the JDU workers involved in putting up the posters said Lalu earlier used to take pride in calling himself Lord Krishna so they showed him like that only. When Lalu was behind the bars in the fodder scam case, he used to refer to the prison as birthplace of Lord Krishna. In fact, Lalu had started preaching the teachings of Lord Krishna and even used to ask fellow inmates to follow the path of righteousness shown in the Gita.
About the reason of showing Nitish as Arjun, another JDU worker explained that Nitish acts like man with a vision and dedication and so the character fits him.
"However, we never knew that Nitish ji would not like the poster and order to remove it. So far as Manjhi's picture was concerned, it was not done intentionally and happened by mistake. We know that it was blunder and every human being makes mistake," said the JDU worker requesting anonymity.
Another party worker said the poster had been ready before the JDU expelled chief minister Manjhi. Since the poster was already put up at several places in the city, the party workers did not think to pull it down, hoping that the February 20 floor test in the Assembly would make everything clear.
About Nitish as Arjun, JDU MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said: "No doubt that Nitish's integrity lies with the rule of law and he will play a bigger role into it with firm commitment. I do not want to specifically talk about his role as Arjun."
