A day Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said that the “doors are always open” for his former ally Nitish Kumar, the Bihar Chief Minister responded, insisting on Saturday that he would now remain with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He went a step further, declaring that an investigation would be carried out to look into “irregularities that took place in departments when the RJD was sharing power”.
“I don’t pay attention to who says what. Things were not going well so I left them [the RJD]. I’ve come to the NDA fold again and will remain here,” Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar told journalists.
On Friday, when asked if he would consider any possible return of Mr. Kumar to the RJD-led mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), Mr. Yadav told journalists, “Jab aayenge tab dekha jayega (We will see when he comes back)”. Pressed further, he responded with a puckish smile on his sagging face: “Darwaja khula hi rahta hai (Doors are always open).”
Probing RJD irregularities
On Saturday, Mr. Kumar said that he has come to know about several irregularities that took place when the RJD was sharing power with the JD(U). “We will not tolerate this and it will be investigated,” he asserted. He has previously said that irregularities in departments headed by RJD Ministers in the previous government — which he headed — would be probed. Mr Kumar was speaking to media persons after paying homage on the death anniversary of former Bihar CM and veteran socialist leader Karpoori Thakur, who was recently awarded a posthumous Bharat Ratna.
Meanwhile, sources in the State government told The Hindu that departments such as Health, Rural Development, Road Construction, Rural Works, Urban Development and Housing, Public Health and Engineering Department, and Mines and Geology have already been asked to “review” the decisions taken during the previous mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government. All these departments had been headed by RJD leaders, including then-Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, during the previous government.
“Yes, the Cabinet Secretariat department, which is headed by the Chief Minister, has issued such a letter to these departments on February 16,” said a senior government official, who did not wish to be named.
‘Basic courtesy’
Mr. Kumar had triggered speculation by exchanging greetings with the RJD chief at the portico of the State Assembly on February 15, but denied that he contemplated switching loyalties yet again. “I maintain basic courtesy with everyone whenever I meet them. I shake hands with them, that’s all. But I’ve come where I was the BJP-led NDA fold] and will be here forever,” he insisted.
Discussing the NDA’s prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha poll, Mr Kumar said that the alliance would win more seats than in the previous 2019 election.
Asked about the cracks in the Opposition INDIA bloc, which he had been part of, he said: “I tried my best [to keep everyone together] but they were not doing anything and this is the reason that cracks are developing in the alliance. Even the name INDIA given to this alliance was not of my choice but they decided on their own. Now, I’ve nothing to say anything on them, I’ve returned here [to the NDA].”
