A day after Lalu Prasad’s support for reviving the Mandal forces to counter Kamandal (BJP), his foe-turned-friend Nitish Kumar went a step ahead on Monday saying all the parties opposed to the BJP should come under one umbrella.
The former Bihar chief minister favoured a grand alliance of the Congress, JD (U), RJD, CPI, CPM and other secular forces which were inimical to the saffron party. “To form such a front, I am not averse to joining hands with Lalu-led RJD. Those leaders within my party, who are not comfortable with this idea of new emerging equations, are free to quit the JD (U) and chart their own independent route,” said Nitish, dropping enough hints that the revival of old Janata parivar (earlier known as Janata Dal) was now imminent.
“The kind of new political development emerged in the country of late has made many of us forge a new front where all the anti-BJP parties will have to come under one roof,” the JD (U) leader suggested.
Political observers here feel that the new bonhomie between Nitish and Lalu stems from the fact that the RJD-led alliance secured 29 per cent votes while the JD (U) garnered mere 15 per cent. But both the parties had to bite dust as BJP with 35 per cent votes emerged triumphant in the Lok Sabha elections.
“Together, Lalu-Nitish combine would secure 44 per cent and will become unbeatable in the forthcoming Assembly elections,” said vice president of Bihar Congress, Prem Chandra Mishra, hoping that the grand old party will be part of this front.
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