E-Paper
Lalu set to return to Patna on August 17, meet with Nitish likely
The RJD chief — who was instrumental in the formation of the Grand Alliance government on August 10, a day after the JD(U) severed ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party —was keen on returning to Patna to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav on August 10, but was advised against it by attending doctors, party insiders said.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad, who is recovering from a hairline shoulder fracture in New Delhi, will return to Patna on August 17 and meet party legislators to extend his wishes on the formation of the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar in alliance with Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), party functionaries said on Sunday.
Speculations are also rife that on Prasad’s return, the two socialist leaders will meet in the state capital, a first since June 2017.
The RJD chief — who was instrumental in the formation of the Grand Alliance government on August 10, a day after the JD(U) severed ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party —was keen on returning to Patna to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav on August 10, but was advised against it by attending doctors, party insiders said.
“The RJD chief will be coming to Patna on August 17 in the evening. He is likely to visit Hajipur on August 19 in relation with a court case related to violation of code of conduct,” said Sanjay Yadav, a close aide of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.
RJD state president Jagdanand Singh said Prasad will meet party legislators and functionaries on August 17 at his 10, Circular Road residence. “We have drafted his programme on behalf of the party. The RJD chief will give blessings to the party MLAs and other functionaries in view of the formation of GA government,” Singh said.
However, all eyes will be on a possible meeting of Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar after more than five years of being at loggerheads following JD(U)’s breaking ties with the RJD in July 2017 to form the government with the BJP.
The two socialist leaders have remained the mainstay of Bihar’s politics for over five decades ever since they became friends during the 1974 students’ agitation led by veteran socialist Jay Prakash Narayan. The two leaders were together during the first Janata Dal government formed in March 1990. Nitish Kumar quit the erstwhile Janata Dal in 1993 to form Samata Party and later aligned his party with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
After realigning with the JD(U), the RJD has been portraying the new unity between the two regional parties as a “path breaking achievement” for Opposition forces to unite against the BJP.
“Lalu and Nitish meeting together in coming weeks would send a big political message of unity among the old socialists and strengthening of the opposition forces ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls. It will be momentous,” said a senior leader from the Grand Alliance, who asked not to be identified.
The last time the two leaders were seen on public stage prominently was during an iftaar party in Patna on June 23, 2017 amid speculations of growing rift between the RJD and the JD(U) over Kumar’s decision to back then NDA’s presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind against UPA’s nominee Meira Kumar. Kovind became the 14th President of India. In July 2017, Kumar broke ties with the RJD and realigned with the BJP to form the government.
On August 10, Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav took oath of office and secrecy. Soon after the formation of the government, RJD chief’s son and former state minister Tej Pratap shared a picture of his father and Nitish Kumar from their young days, with a caption saying, “brothers who always stand by each other”.
On Sunday, Tejashwi Yadav also recalled how CM Kumar had addressed him as a “son of my brother like friend Lalu Prasad” during a face-off with him in the state assembly. “Though it was an admonition, it suggests CM Kumar always had a relationship with us. Even on one occasion when he asked me to sit down, he was giving a command to show his love and affection for me,” Yadav said.
RJD supporters and leaders are expected to give Prasad, 75, a rousing welcome at the airport on his return.
After a fall at his residence in Patna on July 3, Lalu Prasad had suffered a hair line fracture in shoulder and was later air lifted to AIIMS, New Delhi for treatment. After getting discharged from AIIMS on July 22, Prasad has been staying at elder daughter and Rajya Sabha member Misa Bharti’s official residence.
