Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday chuckled at allegations of political vendetta leveled against his ally BJP by supporters of his arch rival Lalu Prasad who has been awarded yet another prison sentence in yet another fodder scam case.
Talking to reporters here on the sidelines of his weekly public interaction programme, Kumar also asserted that there was "nothing political" about his recent meeting with Prashant Kishor with whom he shared a "personal bond".
"He (Lalu) had to give up the Chief Minister's chair and install his wife in his place. There have been many cases (related to fodder scam) and he has been convicted in many of these. There may be some more", said Kumar in response to queries about allegations that the ailing RJD supremo, on the wrong side of 70, was paying the price for his stout opposition to the BJP which now rules the Centre.
"I am not among those who had filed litigation against him", the JD(U) leader said, with a ghost of smile on his lips, adding "but he now has many people around him who were among litigants. One such person has been some time with him, some time with me and had even sought to make me a co-petitioner, but I refused to be drawn into the matter".
The allusion was to Shivanand Tiwary, currently the RJD national vice president, who was among those on whose PIL the Patna High Court had ordered a CBI inquiry into fraudulent withdrawal from treasury of nearly Rs 1000 crore during Prasad's tenure as CM.
Tiwary had been with Samata Party, JD(U)'s previous avatar, before walking over to RJD which rewarded him with a ministerial berth in the Rabri Devi government.
Later, he jumped back to the JD(U) and enjoyed a term in the Rajya Sabha but was expelled from the party in 2014. A few years later, he was again accommodated by the RJD. Kumar was also asked about his much talked about meeting with Prashant Kishor whom he had inducted into the JD(U) and elevated to the post of national vice president some years back.
Kishor's outspokenness on a range of issues had left the JD(U) uneasy and his outbursts against the CM, who was then the party president as well, led to his expulsion.
However, Kumar, often seen as one who did not easily forget slights, indicated that he was not bitter with the young political strategist who had "called me up a number of times while I was down with Covid". "But we share an old relationship, which is personal, and nothing political should be seen into it. Moreover, it is well known that Prashant knows many political figures and keeps interacting with them all", Kumar pointed out.
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