Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Wednesday reiterated that Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and his son Tejashwi will not resign from the post. Lalu also claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has not asked for Tejashwi’s resignation.
The fate of JD(U)-RJD-Congress Mahagathbandhan will be decided today as both Lalu and Nitish hold separate meetings with their legislators on the same agenda — whether Tejashwi should resign in the wake of corruption allegations against him.
Lalu held media responsible for creating rift in the alliance. “We built Mahagathbandhan with lot of difficulties and this alliance will endure. We made Nitish the Chief Minister. There is no bitterness between me and Nitish. I keep talking to him now and then. Media is trying to create crack in our alliance,” Lalu said.
The crack in the alliance started appearing after the Central Bureau of Investigation named Tejashwi in its chargesheet in an alleged corruption case. Earlier this month in a meeting with JD(U) leaders, Nitish had hinted that he expected Tejashwi’s resignation.
Nitish, who has a clean image, wants to remain clear of any controversy. And the corruption allegation against the Deputy Chief Minister is only problematic. The case relates to alleged manipulation in award of contract for maintenance of two hotels run by a subsidiary of the Indian Railways — IRCTC — when Lalu was Railway Minister in the United Progressive Alliance government.
The JD(U) had earlier stepped up pressure on Lalu demanding that his family members disclose the source of “massive property” that they allegedly own, media reports had said.
Earlier this month, both Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi had called Nitish in view of the brewing trouble in the alliance. Nitish also met Rahul in the national capital and discussed the widening rift in the state’s ruling Grand Alliance over the corruption allegations against Tejashwi. The close door meeting between the two leaders lasted for over 40 minutes.
