‘Door Are Always Open’: Lalu Yadav On Nitish Kumar’s Return; ‘Not His Call’, Says BJP

Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar-- who have known each other since their days as student leaders in the 1970s-- were seen Thursday warmly shaking hands inside the Bihar Vidhan Sabha premises.

Bihar News: RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav Friday said “doors were always open” for Nitish Kumar to return to the Mahagathbandhan alliance, which the Bihar Chief Minister recently dumped for the second time in a short period of time and returned to the BJP-led NDA.

Responding to queries by newsmen, Lalu, who maintained a stoic silence ever since his party suffered loss of power as a result of the JD(U) president’s recent volte-face, said the doors for Nitish’s return to an alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) are “always open”.

Following Nitish’s recent U-turn which drastically changed the political landscape of Bihar as well as the INDIA alliance ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha Polls, Lalu and Kumar– who have known each other since their days as student leaders in the 1970s– were seen Thursday warmly shaking hands inside the Bihar Vidhan Sabha premises.

Lalu, who stays mostly indoors since his kidney transplant operation two years ago, had gone their to boost the morale of Manoj Jha and Sanjay Yadav, both of whom filed nomination papers as RJD candidates for Rajya Sabha elections.

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, “Let him come back. Then we will see ( jab aaenge tab dekha jaaega’)”.

Pressed further, as to whether the doors were still open for the former ally, Prasad, said: “Those are always open.”

‘Not his call’

However, state BJP president Samrat Choudhary made light of the remarks of Prasad, asserting that it was not the RJD supremo, but the JD(U) boss who could take a call on forming an alliance.

“It is for Nitish Kumar to decide whether he wants to be with the BJP or RJD. What difference is anything said by Lalu ji going to make?” said Choudhary, who has become a deputy CM.

Meanwhile, JD(U) MLC and chief spokesman Neeraj Kumar said in a statement: “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 whenever RJD has shared power with us, it has engaged in corruption. There is no question of going back”.

(With PTI inputs)