Bihar: RJD shares credit with NDA-ally LJP over CBI probe for Sushant Singh Rajput's death
PATNA: In a first such poltical move showing growing political fondness for an NDA ally, Bihar 's opposition party RJD shared the credit of getting a CBI probe done into the mysterious death case of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput to the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) on Wednesday.
The RJD, taking to its official Twitter handle after the SC delivered its judgement, said that it was due to its leader Tejashwi Yadav and LJP's Chirag Paswan who kept demanding for a CBI probe, that the SC verdict has come in such a way.
The party said that had the duo not continued demanding a CBI probe, the state government would have been 'sleeping like Kumbhakarna' over this case. The RJD's tweet stirred up a hornets' nest in the Bihar NDA, especially among the political thinktanks of JDU on Wednesday.
The speculation over the intent of LJP behind being so vocal against the JDU started gaining analysis from different angles. Some political observers said that a single tweet by RJD giving credit for CBI probe to Chirag Paswan has more than the eyes met to be seen in the emerging political situation ahead of the Assembly polls.
The RJD also accused the state government of remaining mute for over 45 days after the death of actor. "When the RJD made the first demand for an inquiry by CBI and continued on it till the floor of assembly, the state government had no option than to recommend for it," RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan said.
Of late,the poltical relation between JDU and the LJP has been strained. when a JDU leader recently termed Chirag Paswan as 'Kalidas', who chopped the branch of a tree on which he was seated. This statement irked Paswan to such an extent that he had called in an emergency meeting of party leaders on August 15 to decide further course of action and reaction against the statement.
It was rumoured strongly that LJP may withdraw its support to the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar. In fact, the LJP is not even a part of the state government but its two MLAs have rendered support to the government.
A couple of months ago, Paswan had said that his party is in alliance with BJP, not with the JDU after which JDU leaders were irked by the statement. "But a tweet by RJD giving credit to Chirag Paswan has indicated the way future Bihar politics may go ahead," political observer Dr RK Verma said.
Alsi Tejashawi Yadav addresses Chirag Paswan as an elder brother while Chirag says him a younger brother like. Sources said that if the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) led by a Dalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi rejoins the NDA on August 20, LJP may certainly distance itself from the alliance at Bihar in particular.
Meanwhile, Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) chief Pappu Yadav has also projected that his party would support if Chirag Paswan is projected as the next CM from Dalit community. He had an hour long closed room meeting recently with Paswan that gave also a speculation to the formation of a third front.
Meanwhile, two MLAs and one MLC of RJD have decided to join the JDU on Thursday in the second round of defection giving a jolt to the opposition.
Among them is MLC Chandrika Rai, father in-law of Lalu's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, while two are sitting MLAs - Faraz Fatmi (expelled recently) from Keoti in Darbhanga and Paliganj MLA Jai Vardhan Yadav who is grandson of late Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav.
"Whatever be the face of politics in Bihar in view of the upcoming election, the defection would continue to go on affecting the poltical equation in almost all parties. As the JDU is trying to dent into RJD's traditional votebank of my equation ,RJD is also trying to dent into the upper caste votebank of JDU by inducting many leaders from Bhumihar, Rajput and Brahmin communities into the party," said political researcher Dr Archana Kumari.