Bihar polls: Third Front picks Tariq Anwar as CM nominee, Nitish Kumar stings Mulayam Singh Yadav

PATNA: Fearing a split in anti-NDA votes after the newly formed six-party Third Front announced Tariq Anwar its CM candidate, JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar on Tuesday launched a bitter attack on Mulayam Singh Yadav for trying to spoil the chances of the grand alliance.

Commenting on Mulayam's questioning his secular credentials for running an alliance with the BJP for 17 years, Nitish said, "Is Mulayam the vice chancellor of the university of secularism? And are we just research scholars?" Nitish added he did not require a "certificate on secularism" from Mulayam as he was a follower of "Lohia and JP". Incidentally, Mulayam is a close relative of the "senior partner" of the grand alliance, Lalu Prasad.

Until now, political parties have flirted with the idea of proposing a Muslim face for Bihar CM, but Mulayam, b being the first to be the cat, has tried to steal the grand alliance's thunder. Nitish's outburst would seem to suggest the SP chief 's move has hit the Mahagathbandhan where it hurts the minority votes.

The announcement of Anwar is the first instance of a leading political formation in Bihar declaring a Muslim as its CM candidate.In the recent past, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan had floated the idea to the NDA but it was ignored.

Sources said that even Lalu, who claims to be a wellwisher of Muslims, chose his wife Rabri Devi to succeed him as CM when he went to jail in the multi-crore fodder scam in the 1990s, over his confidant and Muslim-toboot Abdul Bari Siddiqui.

Mulayam quit the grand alliance in a huff after the Congress, JD(U) and RJD offered him a paltry five seats to contest out of Bihar's 243.Lalu appealed to Mulayam in the name of family relations -his youngest daughter is married to the SP patron's grandnephew ­ but failed.

"We made all efforts for the revival of the grand alliance and there was in principle agreement that Mulayam be the president of the new alliance and also the parliamentary board," said an acerbic Nitish, adding, "But he has ended the possibility of revival. He should have not done this."

Bihar SP chief Ramchandra Yadav said Nitish has betrayed the cause of true socialism. "It was Mulayam, with help of the Congress, who had prevailed upon Lalu to accept Nitish as CM candidate of the Mahagathbandhan," Ramchandra said, adding Nitish did so for the sake of personal power.