INKLING OF A BOMBSHELL BY NITISH CAME EARLIER IN DAY

PATNA: The first indication that something was not right in the power corridors of Patna and that a big decision was in the offing had come earlier in the day.

Bihar governor in-charge Keshari Nath Tripathi suddenly decided to stay back in Patna, moments after he had presided over a convocation ceremony of the Nalanda Open University. He gave no reasons for not returning to Kolkata as scheduled.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad was the next to surprise – cancelling his travel to Ranchi to appear in the fodder scam cases, delaying just enough for the JD(U) legislature party meeting to end and know what had transpired. The Nitish bombshell came at 7 pm. The RJD was not in government anymore.

Patna’s New Capital area, which is the political power hub of Bihar, too remained tense through the day with legislators of various parties trooping in for meetings, even as the media kept a hawk’s eye on the developments. Would the Grand Alliance (GA), teetering on the edge, collapse? Nobody knew until RJD chief Lalu Prasad emerged from his own meeting with legislators at 2.30 pm to declare, “The GA will not fall, notwithstanding the BJP’s efforts to hijack Nitish.” He was proved wrong not long after.

There had been no word on what was cooking, either from the JD(U) or even the Congress, whose leaders sulked.