JDU leader and Union Minister Lallan Singh on Thursday said that his party was standing with the NDA and that he would not respond to what Lalu Prasad Yadav says. "We are with the NDA and with full firmness. I cannot react to what people say - there is freedom of expression, people can say whatever they want," Singh said when asked about Lalu Prasad Yadav's recent statement that doors were open for Nitish Kumar in the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar.
For the last few days, there have been speculations that Nitish may switch sides once again. Fuelling this speculation, the RJD supremo on Wednesday said that “doors are open" for Nitish Kumar to rejoin the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan). "Nitish Kumar can join us and work together," Lalu said during the interview.
However, when asked about this by reporters, Nitish Kumar dismissed it, saying, "Kya bol rahen hain…Chodhiye na." (What are you talking about… just let it go.)
Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav also sought to downplay Lalu's comment, saying: "You journalists keep asking...what else he will say. He said this to calm you people down."
On Wednesday, Tejashwi asserted that the new year will mark the "departure" of the NDA government in Bihar. The former deputy CM, who is now leader of the opposition, was talking to reporters shortly after Governor designate Arif Mohammad Khan left his residence. Khan was understood to have been invited by Yadav, who had gone to the Raj Bhavan earlier in the day, citing the new year as well as the birthday of his mother Rabri Devi.
Khan spent nearly 45 minutes at 10, Circular Road, the government bungalow Rabri Devi, a former CM, shares with her son and husband Lalu Prasad, the RJD president. After spending nearly 45 minutes, Khan returned to the Raj Bhavan.
Yadav took no questions on the visit that came a day ahead of Khan's swearing-in but asked journalists not to speculate about any upheaval ahead of the assembly polls due in less than a year. "It is too cold. Keep yourselves warm but do not make any wild guesses. The new year will see a new harvest (nai fasal) and a new government," he said.
"In the new year, my uncle (chacha) Nitish Kumar will be voted out. He has been in power for 20 years. Soil gets ruined if the same crop is sown for so long. So, it is time for the departure of Nitish ji and the NDA," Tejashwi added.