All is not well with the ruling NDA in Bihar, as was evident when senior JD-U leader and former Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary today met RJD chief Lalu Prasad in jail, the second such visit by a NDA leader in the past one fortnight. The frequent meetings between the NDA allies and the RJD chief have fuelled speculations of split in the NDA.
The RJD president is currently lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail after being convicted in two separate fodder scam cases earlier this month. Although it is not known what transpired between the two, it is said that Mr Chaudhary is trying to start his new political innings with the RJD which he already served earlier.
Reports say while the RJD wants to project Mr Chaudhary as the Dalit face in the coming elections, Mr Chaudhary wants a “respectable” position in the party after being denied so in the JD-U. Mr Chaudhary has of late revolted against the party leadership, questioning the recent actions of the chief minister, especially the latter’s silence over the reservation issue.
Earlier this month, another NDA leader Brishen Patel met the incarcerated RJD president in the Ranchi court. Former minister Mr Patel happens to be the state president of the Hindustani Awam Morcha, headed by former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. HAM is an ally of the NDA. A story doing the rounds is that Mr Manjhi too is feeling “uncomfortable” in the company of the BJP as none of the promises made to him has been fulfilled.
RJD vice-president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh added further fuel to the fire today by declaring that quite many NDA leaders were in touch with the RJD and would dump the NDA soon. “Several NDA leaders are meeting Laluji in jail and talks are moving forwards. The JD-U is heading for disintegration,” claimed Mr Singh. However, Mr Manjhi denied such talks and claimed what the RJD leader said was not true.
In another setback to the NDA, its another ally Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) led by union minister Upendra Kushwaha too is holding a human chain programme against “demerits” in the existing education system, obliquely questioning the education policy of both the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar and the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Under part of the plan, the RLSP is scheduled to form human chains outside 7,280 schools in Bihar tomorrow and have urged allies to lend full support to his campaign.