PATNA: The second day of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s much-hyped ‘Nischay Yatra’ (Tour of Resolve) brought in a whiff of bad news for the ruling alliance on Thursday as the stage of the rally witnessed an ugly public spat between leaders of alliance partners JD(U) and RJD.
When hundreds of people were awaiting the arrival of Kumar on the stage at Motihari, the headquarters town of the northern East Champaran district, two leaders sitting on the stage suddenly started quarrelling aloud. The two leaders – JD(U) MLC Satish Kumar and RJD MLA Faizal Rahman – had a heated argument continuing for over five minutes reportedly over letting the district unit president of RJD sit in one of the chairs on the stage.
The spat, which caused instant dismay among the audience, seemed to vindicate Bihar’s main Opposition BJP, whose leaders have been claiming that the ruling alliance parties have been at odds over a range of issues. While the grand alliance has refuted all such charges, public incidents like this one handed BJP a readymade handle to beat up the ruling coalition headed by Kumar.
Sources said Rahman was upset to find Satish Kumar insisting on letting the RJD district president sit in one of the chairs on the stage. The quarrel, which subsided after other leaders seated on stage intervened, was caught on television cameras and aired. “It was good that this ugly scene did not take place in presence of the chief minister,” said a JD(U) leader from Motihari.
In his address at the rally, the CM reiterated the need for success in implementation of the stringent prohibition law his government has brought in. Kumar urged the people, especially women, to stay united in their “continuing support for the prohibition law”. Bihar, he said, is set to present a “shining example” in implementing prohibition unlike states like Bihar.