Lalu has laid 'chakravyuh' for Nitish to dethrone him, says Giriraj Singh

The union minister, who is a critic of both the leaders from Bihar says says JD (U) has lost credibility.

Patna: Union minister and senior BJP leader Giriraj Singh on Thursday claimed that a 'chakravyuh' (trap) has been laid for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by ally Lalu Prasad, the RJD president.

Talking to reporters here, Singh alleged that Prasad wanted to see his son Tejashwi Yadav, currently the deputy chief minister, in the highest seat of power in the state without much delay and there was a "200 per cent" likelihood that the JD(U) leader will be forced to step down and make way.

"I have been sensing what is going on in Lalu's mind during my recent interactions," said Singh, who had last week similarly caused a flutter by claiming that the RJD president had confided in him the desire to see Yadav as the CM at the earliest during a plane ride they shared.

"For quite some time, there has been an internal cold war going on in the 'Mahagathbandhan'," claimed the BJP leader.

"Lalu Prasad being the master tactician, had played his cards to the hilt when he got Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, a leader of the RJD, elected to the post of the Speaker," he added.

"Now Nitish Kumar finds himself in a 'chakravyuh'. The RJD needs just a handful of JD(U) MLAs' support to defeat the chief minister in a no-confidence motion. To save himself from the ignominy, Kumar is left with just one option: to give up the post, agree to merge his party with the RJD and help Tejashwi Yadav become the chief minister," said Singh, who represents Begusarai seat in the Lok Sabha.

A known detractor of both Kumar and Prasad, the BJP leader fired the latest salvo on a day the top leadership of the JD(U) is in Delhi where the party's national executive and national council meetings are scheduled on Friday.

JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan' was mobbed by journalists in the national capital with queries about speculations that he had lost the trust of Kumar, the party supremo, because of his growing proximity with Lalu Prasad and may announce his resignation.

Lalan had shot back, "I am not going to resign. You all are most welcome to further the BJP's agenda. If at any point in time I were to resign, I would call you people and seek your advice on what to put in my resignation letter.

However, Giriraj Singh flinched when his attention was drawn to Lalan and many other leaders of the RJD-JD(U) combine who have been alleging "a BJP hand" behind the current wave of rumours.

"The BJP has nothing to do with whatever is going on in the JD(U). We do not know whether Lalan is going to resign or not. Though even if it were to happen, it shall be hardly surprising. Nitish Kumar is known not to trust his people for long," alleged Singh.

He also claimed, "The JD(U) has lost its credibility, a reason why it is blaming the BJP for its internal crisis. I also wish to make it clear that there is no possibility of our realignment with Nitish Kumar.

Notably, Kumar had snapped ties with the BJP in August last year, accusing the ally of plotting a split in the JD(U).

After forming a new government as a constituent of 'Mahagathbandhan' (Grand Alliance), which includes the Congress and the Left, the JD(U) passed a formal resolution charging the BJP with having engaged in a "conspiracy" in the 2020 assembly polls when Chirag Paswan fielded candidates, many of them saffron party rebels, on tickets of LJP in all seats which were being contested by the chief minister's party.

The elections saw the JD(U)'s tally crash to 43, from more than 70 five years earlier. After severing ties with the BJP, Kumar had also claimed that RCP Singh, then the national president of the JD(U), had been handpicked for a berth in the Union cabinet without his consent.

RCP Singh was later made to give up the top party post and denied a third consecutive term in Rajya Sabha, which caused him to resign from the cabinet as well.

Faced with accusations of having served as a BJP mole, the bureaucrat-turned-politician eventually quit the JD(U) and is now, formally, a member of the saffron party.