JDU maintains ‘No Threat’ to Bihar alliance

NEW DELHI: Ties between JDU and RJD continued to be in choppy waters but the former insisted that the relationship had not yet reached breaking point, reiterating that the Mahagathbandhan was intact.

However, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family will have to go the extra mile to clear the air on the corruption cases pending against them, including his son and Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav.

Senior JDU leader KC Tyagi emphasised that nothing much should be read into his party not attending the all-party meeting convened by the government on the eve of the monsoon session of Parliament.

JDU stayed away from the meeting, but Tyagi told ET that it was not a boycott.

JDU also kept away from the Opposition meeting that was addressed by its presidential candidate Meira Kumar and VP choice Gopal Krishna Gandhi. JDU sources said the party missed the allparty meeting due to some mix-up on its part. Party leader Sharad Yadav instead went to meet Gandhi.

When asked about the status of alliance with RJD, Tyagi said: “Tell me one instance when Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has demanded the resignation of Tejashwi Yadav from the deputy CM post. All he has said is that a person holding a public office should maintain high standards.”

JDU expects Tejashwi to meet Nitish once and discuss the case against him. He has till now avoided a meeting with Nitish and not cleared the air. JDU does not think Lalu Prasad will pull the rug even if Tejashwi has to resign as it would throw RJD into political wilderness. Congress also has stakes here as it is a part of the Nitish government. If JDU walks into the NDA camp, it would mean Congress too would be out of power in Bihar.

If Nitish walks into the NDA camp, the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will become even more one-sided than they are today, feel JDU leaders. As such, the onus is even more on RJD and Congress to ensure that the Mahagathbandhan survives. “There is no threat to the Mahagathbandhan and we are united,” Tyagi said.

“We will be with the united opposition in this monsoon session, be it on the issue of farmers’ interest, lynchings in various parts of the country, the encroachments on our territory by China, the situation in Kashmir or the misuse of office by governors,” Tyagi said.

In the presidential elections, JDU brass has directed its MPs and MLAs to vote for NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind. A meeting of JDU lawmakers was held in Patna where this stand was emphasised, sources said.