Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad on Thursday set off fresh ripples by inviting Nitish Kumar’s bete noire and former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to become part of the Janata parivar, before leaving for Delhi for another round of talks on the merger.
While the JD (U) reacted sharply, the Manjhi camp promptly refused the offer, asking Mr. Lalu Prasad to first reject Mr Nitish Kumar and accept Mr. Manjhi as his leader.State JD (U) president Basistha Narayan Singh said there was no point in bringing Mr. Manjhi into the picture at this point of time. “If Mr. Manjhi is to be invited into the fold, then the JD (U) has to do a rethink . Mr. Manjhi is not in the list of Janata Party unity process,” said Mr. Singh.
Mr. Manjhi who was ousted by Mr. Nitish Kumar recently formed a new party Hindustani Awam Morcha and indicated that his party would go for an alliance with any party but not with Mr. Nitish Kumar. “Nitish Kumar is our enemy no. 1,” Mr. Manjhi had declared.
Mr Lalu Prasad told journalists in Patna that be it a merger of the Janata parivar or an alliance between parties, there was need for a broader unity among secular forces to take on BJP and “Manjhi too shall come forward to be a part of this.”
Mr. Nitish Kumar, who too left for Delhi said there was no question of going back on the merger and “all the technical issues could be sorted out after a meeting of the core committee.”
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