Following the removal of Lalan Singh as Janata Dal (United) chief on Friday, tensions seem to be brewing between the JD(U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been chosen as the president of the party, a move reportedly stemmed from Singh’s growing proximity to the Lalu Prasad-led RJD.
Following this, Bihar’s deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has cancelled his official Australia tour, which was to begin from January 6. He had planned the trip a day after his scheduled appearance before the ED in the IRCTC case.
The RJD leader also said that the CM and Tejashwi have not shared the stage together on four occasions in December, which signals strained ties.
“The CM would often embarrass his deputy with direct and indirect reference to ‘misrule’ (during the RJD’s tenure) in Bihar before he took over,” the leader said.
Further, another RJD leader that January will be crucial. With four ministries being yet to be filled, the leader, said that the they want the Cabinet expansion to take place at the soonest.
After that, we will get reassurance that the Mahagathbandhan is intact and that we can still go to Lok Sabha polls with the right and positive frame of mind,” he said, as quoted by IE.
In 2020, Nitish contested the Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP. While the JDU got 43 seats, the BJP and RJD won 74 and 75 seats respectively. He later left the BJP, and joined hands with the RJD and Congress in August 2022.