Again, Nitish avoids sharing dais with Lalu

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar once again skipped sharing the dais with Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Saturday, the second time since the Janata Parivar merger talks reached a deadlock.

Both Mr. Kumar and Mr. Prasad were invited to a rally of the Nishad (fishermen) community organised at the Gandhi Maidan here on Saturday. Posters and banners carrying pictures of both leaders were fluttering on vehicles while leaders on the dais sang their paeans. Braving scorching heat, members of the electorally influential Nishad community were waited for both the leaders on a common platform.

But, Mr. Kumar, who attended a government function earlier in the day, said he would not attend the meeting because of an eye operation. “I’d told the organisers that I’ll not be able to attend the meeting because of my eye operation,” clarified Mr. Kumar .

The absence of Mr. Kumar triggered fresh speculation that all was not well between the JD(U) and the RJD. Insiders told

The Hindu that the deadlock is over the number of seats they have demanded to contest. The RJD had earlier demanded 145 seats out of total 243 whereas the JD(U) wants to bag not less than 115 seats they had won in the 2010 Assembly election.

This was the second time Mr. Kumar skipped sharing the dais with Mr. Prasad on a public platform. Earlier, on April 19, Mr. Kumar did not attend a rally at the same venue to share the dais with the RJD chief.