PATNA: Amid speculations, Bihar assembly Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary on Sunday called on Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad at the latter's residence in the state capital.
Although it was not known what transpired in the meeting of Choudhary and Lalu, its timing has created a flutter in the political circles.
Choudhary left the official residence of former chief minister Rabri Devi, 10, Circular Road without interacting with media persons as he just waved at them from his car. The meeting lasted around 30-40 minutes. He was accompanied by Lalu's son and state environment minister Tej Pratap Yadav.
The Speaker's visit to the residence has been rare and it has come at a time when clouds of uncertainty hover over Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's next move after re-assuming the post of JD (U) president in New Delhi last Friday. Bihar Law Minister Shamim Ahmed and former minister Shyam Bihari Prasad also met the RJD chief one by one.
The development comes two days after Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh resigned from Janata Dal (United) president's post at the national executive committee meeting held in New Delhi on December 29.
Nitish took over the helm of the party for the third time.
In 2016, Nitish became party's president after replacing Sharad Yadav. In 2013, he broke ranks with the
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after a 17-year-old ties following the announcement of Narendra Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate. Nitish who harboured Prime Ministerial ambition himself, took offence with BJP nominating Narendra Modi for the top post. He became chief minister once again
after he forged an alliance with RJD in 2015.
He later walked out of RJD-led grand alliance in 2017, accusing RJD of being involved in corruption. In 2022, he again snapped ties with the BJP alleging that BJP was conspiring against him and trying to influence JD(U) MLAs to rebel against him.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Giriraj Singh claimed that Nitish would not be able to hold the post of chief minister for a long time as Lalu had intensified his pressure on him to relinquish the post and make his son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav new CM of the state.
Giriraj told newspersons in Begusarai (his Lok Sabha constituency) that Nitish somehow saved his party by becoming JD (U) president again but he had fallen
into the trap of Lalu.
"Lalu can make Tejashwi new CM of the state any day by removing Nitish from the post. Lalu has also adequate number of MLAs to execute his plan and it has to be seen whether Nitish will be able to rescue himself from Lalu's trap this time,” he remarked.
It can happen even before January 14 (when inauspicious month of Kharmas ends) but will surely happen after it, he alleged.
Reacting sharply to Singh's claim, RJD MP Manoj Jha said that there were no differences between Nitish and Tejashwi as the grand alliance government was 200 percent intact.
“Nitish will be chief minister of the grand alliance till 2025. BJP leaders are unnecessarily trying to set a narrative as they are desperate as some media houses are giving colour to it," he remarked while ruling out the possibility of Nitish's return to NDA.