‘Invited leaders…:’ Tejashwi Yadav on buzz around Nitish's presence at his iftar party

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar spent around 20 minutes at the iftar party at Rabri Devi's residence and was seen seated with Tejashwi, his brother Tej Pratap and eldest sister Misa Bharti. Kumar's visit to the RJD's first family comes days before union home minister Amit Shah's visit to the state.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday broke his silence on the speculations around Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar returning to the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ or the grand alliance after he attended an iftar party at the residence of former chief minister Rabri Devi in Patna.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav at an Iftar party during the holy month of Ramzan, in Patna.(PTI)

“We have given invitations to all the people whether it is from BJP, JDU or LJP and it has been a tradition that everyone participates in the Iftar party,” Yadav, who is also the leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly.

Nitish Kumar spent around 20 minutes at the party and was seen seated with Tejashwi, his brother Tej Pratap and eldest sister Misa Bharti. Kumar's visit to the RJD's first family comes days before union home minister Amit Shah's visit to the state.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is the dominant partner in the NDA alliance in Bihar after it won 74 seats in the 2020 assembly polls against Kumar's Janata Dal United which could win only 43 seats.

Rumour mills are buzzing with speculations of Nitish Kumar's stint as the chief minister. Recently, he had expressed his interest in going to the Rajya Sabha but his party leaders downplayed the speculations maintaining he would be at the helm till 2024.

Having cut their political teeth during the anti-Congress movement led by Jay Prakash Narayan, Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad were one team until they fell out in 1994. Kumar quit the Janata Dal and formed the Samta Party with George Fernandes.

In 2003, the Samata Party, Lok Shakti and the Sharad Yadav faction of the Janata Dal merged to form Janata Dal United. Nitish Kumar became the chief minister for the first time two years later in 2005. Three years after the BJP-JDU alliance swept the 2010 polls, Nitish severed ties with the saffron party in 2013 but remained CM with Congress support.

In 2015, the Mahagathbandhan of Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar swept the Bihar polls but the alliance broke in 2017. The JDU leader became chief minister after rejoining the NDA.