Lalu's jibe puts Nitish in awkward position

A day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad took a diametrically opposite stand on supporting PM Narendra Modi’s Pakistan policy, the head of the elder partner in the ruling Grand Alliance again took pot-shots at his ‘younger brother’.

Not happy with Nitish praising Modi while defending PM’s Lahore visit, Lalu said, “Those who want to become closer (to Modi) and get some benefit, may not succeed. Samay bahut balwaan hai (Time is powerful). There was a time when he bowed before me when his chips were down.”

The RJD chief did not mention any name while launching a veiled attack on Nitish. He is reported to be miffed after the JD (U) strongman took a divergent view from that of Lalu when the latter castigated the PM for Pathankot attack.

“If someone is singing a different tune, then there is no need to become restless. God has created us. He will only decide what we have to do in future,” said Lalu without naming anyone, at a function organised by a research institute here. But his constant jibe against Nitish was too obvious to be ignored. Of late, the inherent contradictions within the Grand Alliance in Bihar has come to the fore, particularly when Nitish, for the first time after becoming Bihar CM, praised Modi with whom he has a running feud since 2010.

“The prime minister’s sudden visit to Lahore to greet Nawaz Sharif was a good gesture by Modi and it should be welcomed by all. Such steps would go a long way in improving bilateral relations with neighbours,” Nitish said on January 8, on the sidelines of a government function.

Lalu, on the other hand, said the Pathankot episode exposed the double face of the BJP. Prior to polls, Lalu said:  “the BJP maintained that it would give a befitting reply to Pakistan if it annexed or infiltrated the Indian territory. “But whenever Pakistan has made such infiltration, the BJP-led government at the Centre has been caught napping.”