Bihar Political Crisis: When Nitish Kumar said Lalu Yadav wanted to 'murder' him

New Delhi: All eyes are on political developments in Bihar, where the ruling NDA government seems to be on the verge of disintegration. There is a strong possiblity that JD(U) leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may once again partner with RJD’s Lalu Yadav. As many as 160 MLAs of the RJD and the JD(U) have reportedly sworn allegiance to the coalition.

Amid the high octane transitions in Bihar, rewinding few months back, Nitish Kumar who was a BJP ally said the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supermo Lalu Prasad Yadav can get him murdered.

“Chhodiye na, kar den, goliye marwa den. Sabse achha yahi hoga. Baaki kuchh nahi kar sakte hai wo. Agar chahen to goli marwa sakte hai, aur kuchh nahi kar sakte hai, samajh gaye na (Leave it, let him do, can get me shot. It will be best thing (for him). He can’t do anything else. If he wants, he can get me shot, can’t do anything else, understand),” Nitish told in October last year, reacting to Lalu’s ‘visarjan’ remark.

Targeting at Nitish, Lalu had said that the Bihar chief minister (Nitish Kumar) has been eulogised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP. “Everyone was sloganeering ‘desh ka PM kaisa ho, Nitish Kumar jaisa ho’ (A PM should be like Nitish Kumar). He was being touted as PM material… such was the arrogance and greed.”

The RJD chief who was away from elections and campaigning, returned Bihar after he got released from prison last year where he was serving his term in a fodder scam case.

“… The love of Bihar helped me to recover from my illness…. I will ensure ‘visarjan’ (immersion of the NDA),” Lalu had said.

Lalu Yadav called Nitish Kumar ‘Bhasmasur’

Back in 2017, Lalu, while addressing the media after the swearing in of Nitish Kumar as Bihar chief minister, said: “I put a tika on his forehead, said go rule the state, I had no greed in my heart, else why would I nominate him as Chief Minister.”

He further said, “Portraying a false image of himself, Nitish thought himself to be PM material. If I wanted I would have not made him the CM. He just had 71 MLAs.”

Calling the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as demon ‘Bhasmasur’, Lalu said: “Hum boley Shankar bhagwan ki tarah jao, raaj karo, par yeh toh Bhasmasur nikla.”

Cracks in Lalu Yadav-Nitish Kumar partnership

In 2017, Nitish Kumar took oath as the Bihar chief minister for the sixth time. He resigned from the post of CM of the Mahagathbandhan government over corruption charges against his deputy and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s younger son Tejashwi Yadav.

The JD(U) blamed Lalu for Nitish’s decision to severe ties with the RJD and Congress in the arrangement called Mahagathbandhan or the Grand Alliance.

The Mahagathbandhan was announced on 27 July, 2014 and had stopped PM Modi juggernaut in Bihar despite the BJP witnessing increase in its vote share.

A few weeks after the grand alliance bagged majority in 2015 Bihar election, Lalu had publicly said that Nitish had fallen on his feet for stitching an alliance against the BJP.

“Nitish mere gor mein gir gaye toh kya hum unhe uthakar phenk dete (Nitish fell at my feet. Should I have thrown him out)?” the RJD chief had said. However, later denied having used the word ‘gor’ meaning feet and instead had said that he used ‘god’ meaning lap.

In 2016, senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh attacked Nitish for failing law and order in Bihar. He publicly blamed the Bihar CM for poor law and order in the state saying that “the home portfolio is with the Chief Minister”.

By mid of 2016, it had become clear that Nitish was not comfortable with Lalu in the grand alliance and in September, when the Indian Army conducted surgical strike in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir Nitish came out in open support of the Narendra Modi government even though Opposition parties like the Congress and the AAP indirectly sought proof of the same.

In November 2016, Nitish supported demonetisation calling it a good step against black money and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also publicly thanked the Bihar CM for the support.

In 2017, Nitish and PM Modi shared dais in Patna at a function to mark 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. The Bihar CM and the Prime Minister showered praise on each other.

Also, in the Presidential Election 2017, Nitish deserted the Opposition to back BJP candidate Ram Nath Kovind.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is expected to make a major move today as he is expected to meet the Governor around 4 pm.

Bihar Political crisis: Developments

JD(U) leader Upendra Kushwaha, late on Tuesday afternoon, congratulated Nitish on the beginning of a “new alliance.”

“Congratulate Nitish Kumar being answerable for a new alliance in a new form. Nitish ji, march ahead! The country waits for you,” he said.

Kushwaha’s post comes minutes ahead of Nitish Kumar’s meeting with the Governor at 4 pm today. Meanwhile, news agency ANI quoted RJD source saying that the Lalu Yadav’s party (RJD) is likely to extend support to Nitish Kumar. “There will be no differences on allotment of portfolios. Tejashwi Yadav said that they have a strength of 160. If BJP attempts to create instability or tries to push for President’s Rule, we’ll give them a ‘befitting reply’,” the source added.

The rift between the BJP-JD(U) alliance in Bihar became evident after Nitish skipped a key meeting of the NITI Aayog, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday and JD(U) leader RCP Singh tendered his resignation from the party.

Singh, once considered a close aide of Kumar had announced his exit from the party after being served a notice seeking an explanation on allegations of corruption.

The RJD-led Opposition in Bihar has said that it will welcome any re-alignment in Bihar’s ruling coalition without the BJP.

As for numbers, in the Bihar Assembly, BJP now has 77 seats, JD(U) holds 45, the Congress 19, the Left led by CPIML(L) has 16 and the RJD 79.

With inputs from agencies

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