'Kya bol rahe hain': Nitish comes up with cryptic response to Lalu's fresh offer to join I.N.D.I.A. bloc

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday came up with a cryptic response to RJD president Lalu Prasad's offer to return to the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.

"Kya bol rahe hain (What are you saying)" was all the JD(U) boss said in reply to queries from journalists about Prasad's fresh offer.

Kumar had aligned twice with the RJD, a constituent of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, in the last one decade.

Prasad's son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, however, sought to downplay the remarks made by his father, in an interview to a local news channel, claiming that the RJD supremo had merely tried to satisfy the curiosity of the prying media.

Prasad had said, "Our doors are open (for Nitish). He should also unbolt his gates. This would facilitate movement of people from both sides".

The remark, coming in the backdrop of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's stance on projecting the JD(U) supremo as NDA's face in the assembly polls due in less than a year, triggered intense speculations in a section of the media here.

Kumar was approached with queries by journalists at Raj Bhavan, where he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Arif Mohammad Khan as the new governor.

Flanked by Khan and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary (BJP on either side, Kumar folded his hands and smiled when his comments were sought on the offer from Prasad. Pressed further, he asked, "What are you saying".

When a pointed query was made, as to whether the state government would be able to complete its term, Khan intervened and said, "This is not the occasion for a question of this type. Today is a happy day. Let us only talk about good things".

Later, the posse of journalists approached Yadav, a former Deputy CM and the current leader of the opposition, who had also come to attend the function.

The young leader, who had on Wednesday declared that the new year will see "departure" of the NDA government headed by Nitish Kumar, said: "I have already made my stand clear".

When probed further, with reference to the utterances of his father, Yadav said, "What would he do if people like you keep coming to him with the same question? Whatever he said must have been aimed at putting an end to curiosity of you journalists." Meanwhile, when questions about Prasad were posed to Union minister and former JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh "Lalan", he snapped.

"The NDA is strong. JD(U) and BJP are united. It is a free society and anybody can say whatever he pleases. It is for Lalu ji to say more on his own utterances", he said.

Lalan was perceived to have grown very close to the RJD supremo when Nitish Kumar was out of NDA. It was rumoured to have been the reason why the de facto JD(U) chief chose to take over as the president of the party.