In previous polls, Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav were on the same side.
Patna:
Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav has addressed a rally blitz as he campaigns for next week’s elections in Bihar. If it gave him a sore throat, the remedy was suggested to him by the very man he was targeting – Nitish Kumar.
Tuesday, when the Chief Minister met Tejashwi Yadav at Ram Vilas Paswan “Shraadh“Ceremony in Patna, we saw them exchange a few words.
As it turns out, Rashtriya ruler Janata Dal, 31, told Nitish Kumar that her throat was tight from the perpetual election.
“Please drink lukewarm water,” advised Nitish Kumar. The 69-year-old veteran went on to share that he used to drink ice water until former labor minister George Fernandes, a former political associate, urged him to drink hot water .
In the previous elections of 2015, Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav were on the same side. After the victory of the Mahagatbandhan, Nitish Kumar accepted Lalu Yadav’s request and appointed his first son Tejashwi Yadav as Deputy Prime Minister.
The arrangement and the coalition were short-lived; in 2017, as the Yadav, mainly Tejashwi, faced corruption allegations linked to a land deal, Nitish Kumar abandoned the RJD and Congress and re-launched his alliance with the BJP.
Since then, Tejashwi Yadav has attacked Nitish Kumar – whom he often calls “chacha (uncle)” – without interruption and the animosity has been mutual.
Yesterday their meeting had the cameras on overdrive. Just like the gesture of the leader of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Chirag Paswan, to touch the feet of Nitish Kumar, his main target before the polls.
The three of them sat together in front of the cameras, a first in this voting season.
Nitish Kumar is aiming for a fourth consecutive term as Bihar votes in three rounds for a new assembly of 243 members from October 28. Results will be announced on November 10.
