Weeks after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's departure from the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) to realign with the NDA, RJD president Lalu Prasad made a statement on Friday, expressing that his "doors are always open" for his longstanding rival.
Prasad, who has maintained a stoic silence ever since his party suffered a loss of power as a result of the JD(U) president's volte face, was responding to queries from journalists.
A day earlier, the duo was seen exchanging pleasantries in a brief encounter at the state assembly. Despite their brief interaction, the footage of their meeting became widely discussed on social media. This was the first meeting between the two leaders since their recent separation.
When Prasad was asked whether the bonhomie indicated that he was still open to rapprochement with Kumar, who has ditched him for the second time, causing his son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav to lose the deputy CM's post on both occasions, the RJD supremo replied, "Jab aaenge tab dekha jaaega (Let him come back. Then we will see)."
When pressed further, as to whether the doors were still open for the former ally, Prasad, who has known Kumar since their days as student leaders in the 1970s, replied, "Khula hi rahta hai (these are always open)."
When asked if Rahul Gandhi could become the Prime Minister, the RJD supremo said, "Koi kami thodi hai, koi kami nahi hain (there is no incompetency in him)."
Lalu also claimed that during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, they are going to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Meanwhile, contradicting his father's statement, Tejashwi Yadav launched a fresh attack on Nitish Kumar while addressing the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Friday in Sasaram and said that the Bihar CM does not want to listen to anyone.
"You all very well know how our CM is; he does not want to listen to anyone. He used to say, 'I will die, but I won't join the BJP'... We decided to stay with Nitish ji, no matter how much we had to sacrifice, only to defeat the BJP in 2024. We had appointed a tired Chief Minister."
Tejashwi Yadav
Tejashwi joined Rahul Gandhi in his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' on Friday and was seen driving Rahul Gandhi and other leaders in the lead jeep as the yatra made its way through Sasaram.
Responding to Lalu Prasad's remarks, the JD(U) asserted that there is no going back.
"Lalu ji says the doors are still open. He should know that the famous padlock of Aligarh has been placed on the doors. Our leader, Nitish Kumar, has clearly said that whenever RJD has shared power with us, it has engaged in corruption. There is no question of going back," said JD(U) chief spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar.
Earlier in January, Nitish, who had reportedly gone into a sulk after not being named the convenor of INDIA, the Opposition bloc that took shape through his efforts, dumped the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar and the national coalition to form a new government with the support of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Putting to rest frenzied speculations around his future and that of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, Nitish resigned as chief minister on January 28, his second volte face in less than 18 months.
The Nitish-led NDA government won the trust vote in the state assembly on February 12 after a total of 129 legislators voted in favour of the motion of confidence in the 243-member assembly.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
