The RJD president, however, defended party strongman Mohammad Shahabuddin, saying he did not made any derogatory comments. “This turmoil is created by the media,” Prasad told reporters at Patna airport.
With fissures appearing in the ruling coalition following RJD vice-president Raghubansh Prasad Singh’s remarks on Kumar while supporting Shahabuddin’s comment that he was “Chief Minister by circumstance”, Prasad asserted “Nitish Kumar is the leader of the coalition.”
“The coalition is intact and there is no danger to it,” Prasad, whose son Tejaswi Yadav is Deputy Chief Minister and another son Tej Pratap Yadav is the state Health Minister, said.
While he did not see any “derogatory” contents in the utterances of Shahabuddin while coming out of Bhagalpur jail on Saturday after getting bail from the Patna High Court, the RJD chief did not appreciate comments of Raghubansh Prasad Singh on Kumar.
“Despite telling him repeatedly, Raghubansh Singh speaks something to media,” he said, adding he would speak to everybody within the party and tell them categorically not to make unnecessary comments about coalition.
On Shahabuddin saying that for him Prasad is the leader and Kumar is Chief Minister due to circumstance, the RJD chief said, “He is a member of RJD, so what is wrong if he says I am his leader.” He said Shahabuddin’s release was part of a judicial process and the government had no role in it.
“Shahabuddin walked out of jail after 11 years on the basis of bail from the Patna High Court,” he said.
On Shahabuddin’s comment that Kumar is “not a mass leader”, Prasad said no one becomes a mass leader on someone’s comment in favour or against it. Asked if he agreed to Shahabuddin’s comment that Kumar was “circumstantial” chief minister, Prasad told mediaperson not to irritate him.
Sushil asks Nitish to explain how Shahabuddin got bail
Keeping on the pressure on the state government over Md Shahabuddin’s release last week, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday asked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to explain what led to the RJD strongman getting the bail after 11 years of imprisonment.
“We don’t buy Kumar’s dismissive stand - that the controversy related to Shahabuddin’s bail or the latter’s barb at him are trivial issues and that they do not deserve his attention or reply,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a Janata Durbar at his residence. He said the explanation presented by state ministers and JD(U) spokespersons on the direction of the Chief Minister are not satisfactory.
The BJP leader flayed some state ministers for allegedly using “insulting words” against him “on the bidding of the Chief Minister” and vowed the Opposition would not let the issue- the RJD strongman’s release - brush under the carpet. Sushil Modi said all constituents of the state government - RJD, JD(U) and Congress - were collectively responsible for “state-managing” and “stage-managing” Shahabuddin’s release.