A day after Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, senior Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, declared that projecting Nitish Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate would be suicidal for any alliance, the war of words intensified between leaders of the two parties with some Janata Dal(United) leaders on Tuesday making it clear that Mr. Kumar would be the party’s candidate and no one else.
Earlier on Monday, RJD president Lalu Prasad too did not too sound very optimistic about an alliance when he said “Though, the sooner it (alliance) is struck, the better it will be but even if doesn’t work out it will be okay.”
Nitish silent Mr. Nitish Kumar has kept studied silence over the issue saying he has nothing new to offer.
“We will go to the polls only with the face of Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister…there is no other name for the post than Mr. Kumar, nor should anyone think otherwise,” said JD (U) State president Basistha Narayan Singh soon after returning from Delhi.
Later, another JD(U) leader and Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Shyam Rajak too said that the party stood firmly behind Mr. Nitish Kumar.
Mr. Rajak slammed Mr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, saying he was acting at the behest of the BJP to help the party improve its prospects in the upcoming Assembly election.
“It seems he is on the pay rolls of the BJP but such leaders should know that Mr. Nitish Kumar alone has the potential to change the face of Bihar,” he asserted.
Discordant note But, Ramai Ram, another Minister, put the party in a spot, saying that the chief ministerial candidate should be announced only after the election.
“Today Mr. Nitish Kumar is the Chief Minister but the assertion that he will be the CM in the future too is not acceptable. The name of the leader should not be declared before election in keeping with alliance dharma,” he said.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha leader Jitan Ram Manjhi said in Sasaram that all political parties should work together in the upcoming Assembly poll “to rid Bihar of Mr. Nitish Kumar.”
