RJD challenges Nitish Kumar to snap ties with BJP following Arunachal developments

Patna: The Rashtriya Janata Dal on Saturday hinted at the possibility of a fresh alignment in Bihar if Chief Minister Nitish Kumar chose to snap ties with the BJP following the "humiliation" in Arunachal Pradesh. RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwary, however, made it clear that the ball lies in the court of the JD(U) boss who needed to realise that the development in the north- eastern state, where his party MLAs defected en masse to the BJP, was aimed at "settling old scores".

Tiwary recalled the incident of about a decade ago when Kumar had cancelled a dinner organised for visiting BJP leaders who were in Patna to take part in the partys national executive.

"Nitish Kumar had then made it amply clear that while he was okay with the BJP, he was very much averse to Narendra Modi, his then Gujarat counterpart. Now, Modi is not a man who is going to forgive and forget the slight", Tiwary said. The veteran RJD leader, who has also been with the JD(U) for some time, insisted that the development in Arunachal Pradesh was "part of the chain of events that began with Chirag Paswans rebellion".

Paswan, the LJP president, had pulled out of the NDA ahead of Bihar assembly polls vowing to dislodge Kumar from power. The LJP came a cropper in the elections though it succeeded in cutting into JD(U)s votes, with BJP rebels fighting on its tickets in many seats.

"The BJPs strategy was, firstly, to cut Nitish Kumar to size which it did successfully in the assembly polls. Now it has begun to humiliate him. What else could explain poaching of six JD(U) MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh where the BJP was already enjoying a very comfortable majority",

Tiwary asked.