In a surprise move, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav extended a fresh offer to his former ally and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to return to the INDIA bloc, setting tongues wagging in the political circles.
The Janata Dal (United) chief, who had spearheaded the formation of the opposition bloc, quit the alliance and joined hands with the BJP in 2023.
"Our doors are open (for Nitish). He should also unbolt his gates. This would facilitate movement of people from both sides,” Lalu Prasad said.
His comments came amid the BJP’s stance on projecting Nitish as NDA's face in the assembly polls in the state due in less than a year. It also came amid reports of fissures in the INDIA bloc with a section of leaders questioning the leadership of the Congress.
Nitish, however, gave a cryptic reply to Lalu Prasad’s offer.
"Kya bol rahe hain (What are you saying)?,” the chief minister asked in reply to queries from journalists. He was attending the swearing-in of Arif Mohammad Khan as the new governor.
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When media persons repeated their queries, Khan intervened and said: "This is not the occasion for a question of this type. Today is a happy day. Let us only talk about good things".
Lalu Prasad’s son and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav sought to downplay his father’s comments, saying the RJD supremo had merely tried to satisfy the curiosity of the prying media.
“What would he do if people like you kept coming to him with the same question? Whatever he said must have been aimed at putting an end to the curiosity of you journalists," he said.
Reacting to Lalu Prasad’s remarks, JDU leader and Union minister Lallan Singh said his party is with the NDA.
“We are with the NDA and with full firmness. I cannot react to what people say; there is freedom of expression; people can say whatever they want,” Singh told media persons.
Congress has not made any official remarks on Lalu Prasad’s statements, however, party leader Shakeel Ahmed Khans said: "If followers of Gandhi detach themselves from the followers of Godse, then we are with them."
Nitish had aligned with the RJD-Congress Grand Alliance in 2015, but left the bloc in 2017. He returned to the Grand Alliance in 2022 but quit again after two years.
