After months of bickering, Nitish and Lalu say grand alliance firm

PATNA Sharing space at an official function after taking separate positions on a variety of issues and occasions, in recent months, chief minister Nitish Kumar (JD-U) and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, on Sunday, used the occasion to send across a message that all was well within the ‘grand alliance’.

Speaking at the commissioning of the Ara-Chapra and Digha (Patna)-Sonepur bridges across the Ganga, by press a remote control button at his media centre, called Samwad, Kumar also slammed the BJP for creating doubts in the mind of the people about a possible ‘rift’ in the grand alliance.

The RJD chief, too, was unsparing in his attack on the BJP, saying those casting doubts about the grand alliance’s future would be proved wrong just as they were when the alliance chose Nitish as CM, after its November 2015 landslide victory, even though the RJD had won more seats than the JD (U).

The reiteration of the unity of the grand alliance by its top two leaders came after months of bickering between the allies.

Kumar had been very upset with Prasad’s inability to curtail outbursts against him (Kumar) by senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Prasad Singh, just as Prasad has been unhappy with Kumar for not defending him and his family on BJP leader Sushil Modi’s allegations suggesting they held dubiously sourced properties.

The relations soured to such an extent that when the income tax authorities last month raided 22 properties allegedly associated with Prasad, the RJD chief made a cryptic remark suggesting the BJP led NDA had found ‘another ally’, which was read by many as a reference to Kumar.