‘Don’t need anybody’s offer’: JDU chief on rejoining Grand Alliance

The JD(U) president’s remarks comes a day after former deputy chief minister and BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi alleged that jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad was calling up his party MLAs from paid ward at RIMS, Ranchi to engineer defections.

Amid growing voices from the RJD to the JD(U) to rejoin the grand alliance (GA), Janata Dal (United) national president RCP Singh said his party was a strong entity in itself and does not need support from anybody, giving a rebuff to the opposition party.

File photo: JDU’s RCP Singh.((mage via Twitter)

“The JD(U) exists on the strength of its leader and does not need any offer from anybody. We have not put any application seeking support from anybody,” he said, in an oblique attack on the RJD. Singh was speaking to reporters after attending an event to mark the birth anniversary of social reformer and educationist Savitribai Phule in Patna.

Incidentally, the JD(U) president’s remarks, to underline that his party was not giving any weightage to the RJD’s feelers to cross over to the GA, comes a day after former deputy chief minister and BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi alleged that jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad was calling up his party MLAs from paid ward at RIMS, Ranchi to engineer defections.

The senior BJP leader’s attack on the RJD chief could be seen in the context of RJD leaders asking the JD(U) to cross over to the RJD-led GA and former minister Shyam Rajak’s recent claim that around 17 JD(U) MLAs were in touch with the RJD.

The RJD’s pitch to offer JD(U) to realign with the GA has gained momentum in last few weeks after there was a bit of strain between JD(U) and BJP following the Arunachal Pradesh episode where seven JD(U) MLAs switched to the saffron party.

However, chief minister Nitish Kumar, in the last few days, has rubbished theories of any rift within the NDA and also asserted his party was intact.

That apart, in his tweet, Modi also said the JD(U) and BJP, having a friendship for over two decades, had witnessed a bad patch because of elements jealous of the bonhomie between the two old allies but the phase passed off. Besides, he also said, the opposition is feeling restless when the people’s mandate has once again been given to the NDA.

On its part, RJD state spokesperson Mritunjan Tiwary said today that senior BJP leader Modi was in the habit of making all sorts of allegations against RJD chief. “Modi’s allegations against RJD chief Lalu Prasad of trying to destabilise the government by promoting defections are all baseless. The NDA should first keep its own house in order,” he said.