RJD goes soft on CM, says ‘not allergic’ to anyone

Alliance intact: Paswan

Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, at whose Iftar party Bihar CM Nitish Kumar shared space with BJP leaders like Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, maintained the “NDA is intact”. A day before, he had asserted, “All is well in the NDA in Bihar and Nitish Kumar is our leader.” He evaded queries about leaders of JD(U) and BJP skipping each other's Iftar parties.

Patna, June 4

With the BJP-JD(U) ties under apparent strain, senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has extended an olive branch to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying non-BJP parties, including the JD(U), should join forces against the BJP and that his party was "not allergic" to anyone.

Down in the dumps following the Mahagathbandhan's Lok Sabha poll whacking, Singh's comments are being seen as indicative of a shift in his party's tough stance on Kumar, after he spurned the offer of “symbolic” presence of his party in the Modi cabinet, insisting on “proportional representation”.

“All non-BJP parties, whether Nitish or a, b or c should come together on a single platform to provide a national alternative. We are not allergic to any particular party or leader,” Singh said on Monday when asked about Kumar's acceptability in the Mahagathbandhan.

BJP chief Amit Shah had made repeated attempts to bring Nitish around to accepting his proposal for one berth in the Modi cabinet for the JD(U), but the CM spurned the offer insisting on "proportional representation" for his party.

Many saw in this an indication of a rift between the two dominant NDA partners in Bihar, which appeared to have only widened when Nitish expanded his cabinet on Sunday with the induction of eight new ministers--all from the JD(U). In an apparent tit-for-tat action, Nitish had offered one cabinet berth to the BJP, which it declined.

Former Chief Ministers Rabri Devi and Jitan Ram Manjhi of RJD and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) also appeared to have mellowed towards Nitish.

Manjhi, a former Kumar protege, greeted the Chief Minister with a warm hug at the Iftar the HAM leader had hosted on Monday. "I had my differences with the JD(U) chief over the manner in which I was removed from the post of Chief Minister. But it has been four years and much water has flown down the Ganges," Manjhi told reporters.

Minutes before Kumar’s arrival, Rabri and her elder son Tej Pratap Yadav left Manjhi’s residence, and when she was queried about possible realignment with the JD(U) chief, an old associate of her husband Lalu Prasad, she first tried to dodge it with the remark "better ask Manjhi”. When pressed further, she said, "Any decision on inclusion of new allies can be taken only in consultation with all allies." PTI