PATNA: RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s residence in Patna was on Saturday the venue for a grand get-together of all top leaders of Bihar’s ruling grand alliance as they attended a feast organised to mark Makar Sankranti.
Chief Minister and JD(U) stalwart Nitish Kumar, accompanied by several ministers from his party, also attended the feast on Yadav’s invitation. As Kumar relished dahi (curd) and chuda (beaten rice), the bonhomie between the two top leaders was visible. Most leaders from JD(U), RJD and Congress were present at the feast.
Yadav, accompanied by his wife and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, welcomed Kumar into the house and then Yadav himself put a mark of dahi on Kumar’s forehead. The two leaders then embraced each other and flashed smiles to indicate that all is well between their two parties.
Yadav, Rabri Devi and their daughter Misa Bharti, a Rajya Sabha member, served the food to Kumar. Yadav’s two sons – deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav and health minister Tej Pratap Yadav – were also present.
Significantly, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi skipped the feast despite an invitation from Yadav. In fact, no BJP leader attended this feast at Yadav’s residence.
“I did not attend the feast as the invitation was not conveyed with proper dignity. If he (Yadav) considered me of the same stature as he is, he would have personally sent the invitation. But it was his PA who had called, and I chose not to attend,” said Modi later. Modi, a former Bihar deputy chief minister and strident critic of Yadav, attended the Makar Sankranti feast at a BJP MLC’s residence.
BJP leaders also derided Yadav for extending the invitation to them. “He, in fact, does not want any BJP leader to be at his feast. This is why he personally did not make phone calls to any BJP leader. He is afraid of BJP because we keep exposing his unholy political tricks,” said senior BJP leader Vinod Narayan Jha.
JD(U) is organising a feast for Makar Sankranti at party state president and RS member Vashistha Narayan Singh’s residence on Sunday. Unlike the previous two years, JD(U) has invited BJP this time. Sushil Modi said he would attend this feast. Several BJP leaders are also likely to be there. JD(U) and BJP were partners in the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar for eight years between 2005 and 2013.