Prashant backs Nitish, attacks Lalu

Did Nitish Kumar want to return to the Mahagathbandhan 6 months after aligning with the BJP?
M I Khan reports from Patna.

Prashant Kishor, the Janata Dal-United national vice-president, on Friday, April 5, refuted claims made in an unreleased book by Lalu Prasad Yadav, and described reports based on the book as bogus.

In his book, the jailed Rashtriya Janata Dal leader claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar tried to return to the Mahagathbandhan six months after abandoning the RJD-led Grand Alliance to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Lalu claimed he denied Nitish Kumar's re-entry into the Mahaghathbandhan because of the JD-U leader's fluctuating political positions.

According to the book, Gopalganj to Raisina: My Political Journey, Lalu reportedly wrote that Nitish Kumar sent Prashant Kishor, poll strategist turned politician, to meet him five times.

Prashant Kishor tried to convince Lalu to permit Nitish Kumar to re-enter the Mahagathbandhan, Lalu reportedly stated.

'The claims made by Laluji as reported are BOGUS.' Prashant Kishor tweeted on Friday. 'This is nothing but a poor attempt seeking relevance by a leader whose best days are behind him'.

'Yes, we did meet many times before I joined JDU, but if I were to tell what all was discussed then he would be quite embarrassed', Prashant Kishor claimed.

"I say this with full responsibility, Nitish Kumar made many attempts to get back and ally with us, he tried many different approaches, within 6 months of returning to the NDA," RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, leader of the Opposition in the Bihar assembly, said in response to Prashant Kishor's tweet.

In the 2015 Bihar assembly election, Nitish Kumar joined hands with the RJD and Congress and contested the polls together as the Mahagathbandhan, which defeated the the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

Twenty months later, in July 2017, Nitish Kumar dumped the RJD and Congress and joined hands with the BJP and formed the government in Bihar.

Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar is seeking 'mazdoori (wages)' in the form of support and votes for NDA candidates contesting the Lok Sabha election in Bihar.

With campaigning picking up ahead of the first of seven phases in the Lok Sabha polls, Nitish Kumar, one of the NDA's star campaigners, told voters at an election rally in Belaganj in the Gaya parliamentary constituency: 'We have come to seek votes from you on the basis of work. I have done development work in the last 13 years and I am seeking wages for it from you.'

In the last two days, Nitish Kumar appealed to voters at over a dozen election meetings in Jamui, Bhagalpur, Munger and Banka parliamentary constituencies, to give him mazdoori for his work.

'When I came to power in Bihar in November 2005, total consumption of electricity was 700 MW in the state, now it is more than 5000 MW and demand is growing. All villages have been connected with electricity,' the chief minister said. 'The state has got out of the lantern age.'

Nitish Kumar also targeted RJD leaders for using objectionable language against him and Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi during the election campaign. 'The Opposition should use decent language,' he stated.

The BJP and JD-U will each contest 17 Lok Sabha seats, leaving 6 seats for the Lok Jantantrik Party.