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Tejashwi Yadav asked mediapersons where they conjure such ideas and said there is no reason to reach out to Nitish Kumar.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, once partners, have fallen out and the rift continues to deepen as the Bihar elections near. (IMAGE: PTI FILE)
Leader of the opposition in Bihar Assembly and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday reacted sharply when reporters questioned him if his party was reaching out to Janata Dal (United) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in a bid to lure him away from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
“Who gives you these ideas? Why will we welcome him? There is no offer, don’t talk nonsense. No one other than Lalu (Yadav) ji and I is authorised to make offers, and no offer will be made,” Yadav said.
Yadav’s sharp response follows a confrontation between him and Kumar in the Bihar legislative assembly where the latter claimed that he made Lalu Prasad Yadav, the RJD supremo and Tejashwi’s father, the Bihar chief minister, alluding to the time when Nitish and Lalu formed a government in Bihar in coalition.
“Even the people of Lalu Yadav’s caste (Yadav) had refused to make him CM, but I supported him. I made your father (Lalu Yadav) CM,” Nitish had told before the assembly.
In response, Tejashwi had said that he made Nitish Kumar chief minister of Bihar by extending support.
“I made him CM twice and saved his party… Nitish Kumar should remember that even before him, my father had already been elected as an MLA twice and once as an MP. Forget about Lalu Yadav, Lalu Ji has made many Prime Ministers,” he further added.
The partners-turned-rivals have increased attacks on each other as Bihar elections near. The NDA coalition is going head-to-head against RJD and its partners for winning the 243-member legislature.
