Tejashwi hits out at Manjhi

anirbanroy@htlive.com

anirbanroy@htlive.com

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PATNA

Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Wednesday took a dig at former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and said his claim that there was no coordination in the opposition alliance was baseless.

Manjhi’s party Hindustani Awami Morcha (Secular) is a constituent of the RJD-led Grand Alliance.

“The RJD had made Manjhi’s son Uday Manjhi an MLC from its own quota. This could not have been possible had there been no coordination,” Tejashwi said at a press conference at the state party office.

“We always sit and discuss. So there is a system of coordination among the allies in GA,” he said, avoiding any comment on whether the RJD would form a coordination committee as demanded by allies like HAM (S) and RLSP.

Asked if the RJD would contest more than 150 assembly seats in the assembly polls due later this year, Tejashwi said the party believed in winnability factor for seat sharing among allies. “RJD is prepared for election. And we will contest polls by selecting seats based on the winnability criteria,” he said.

Within hours of Tejashwi’s comment about RJD offering MLC seat to Manjhi’s son, the HAM-S chief hit back, saying he had not asked for a MLC seat for his son. “I did not lobby or apply an MLC seat for my son. Even I came to GA on the request of the RJD and other parties,” he said.

Manjhi, who has stepped up attacks against RJD, had met CM Nitish Kumar on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, he had issued an ultimatum to RJD to take steps to form of a coordination committee for the GA by March 31.

Meanwhile, Tejashwi also attacked the Nitish Kumar government for allegedly failing to create job opportunities, on lack of industries and unabated.

The RJD leader also announced he had cancelled his second leg of Berojgari Hatao yatra to different districts till March 31 owing to the scare of COVID-19 outbreak in the country.