Once arch-enemies in the battle of power in Bihar, former CMs Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav are all set to unite for power.
Once arch-enemies in the battle of power in Bihar, former CMs Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav are all set to unite for power.
After the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nitish had left the power seat and had nominated Jeetan Ram Manjhi as his successor. At that time, speculations of JD(U) and RJD – parties of both leaders – joining hands were rife. But that did not happen.
This time, the by-polls in Bihar are proving to be the meeting ground for both rivals. For three Rajya Sabha seats in the state, the JD(U) saw unopposed election of party chief Sharad Yadav but the fate of two other seats hangs in balance as two independent candidates backed by party rebels and supported by BJP are not ready to go down.
Economic Times reported yesterday: The resignation of the three RS members – Ram Vilas Paswan, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Ram Kripal Yadav, following their election to the Lok Sabha led to vacancies to as many seats in the Upper House.
While dissidents did not put up any candidate against Sharad Yadav’s candidature, they fielded BJP MLC Dilip Jaiswal and Anil Sharma against official JD(U) nominee Pawan Verma on one seat and Shabir Ali against Ghulam Rasool Baliyawi (JD-U) for the other seat. Even though Jaiswal withdrew from the contest on Thursday – which was the last day for withdrawal – the contest will be on for the two seats.
Now Nitish has dialed Lalu’s number since the latter’s party with 21 MLAs can help him meet the numbers. Working on expected lines, Nitish told media that he has “talked to Lalu Prasad, Congress state chief Ashok Choudhary, its legislature party leader Sadanand Singh and CPI secretary Rajendra Singh seeking their support for victory of two JD(U) candidates in the bypoll to Rajya Sabha in Bihar to foil the game plan of BJP to destabilise the government”.
Asked to comment on whether his approaching arch rival Lalu Prasad to bail out the JD(U) candidates was due to political compulsion, Kumar retorted, “No, it is because of political circumstance.”
While we all know what the reality is, it should be noted that JD(U) is walking on thin ice in Bihar. In state assembly, whose effective strength at present is 232 due to 11 vacancies, JD(U) has 117 MLAs including the speaker, BJP 84, RJD 21, Congress 4, Independents 5 and CPI 1.
Whatever Nitish says, we know very well under what circumstances two enemies unite.
