Congress dares Rashtriya Janata Dal to quit alliance

Patna: Even as the dust over the war of words between Grand Alliance (GA) partners JD (U) and RJD is yet to settle, another GA constituent Congress on Tuesday joined the issue and almost dared the RJD to quit the alliance if it was not comfortable with the leadership of CM Nitish Kumar.
Reacting sharply to the onslaught on the Kumar government by RJD vice-president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and former MP Mohd Shahabuddin ever since his release from the jail on Saturday, Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Choudhary said no one had the right to defame the government or “reduce the aura of CM” while continuing in the alliance.
“If the RJD has issues with the leadership of Kumar, it should quit the alliance. No one is stopping it,” said Choudhary, who is also education minister in the Kumar government.
On being released on bail after 11 years of incarceration, Shahabuddin called Nitish a “CM of circumstances”. Raghuvansh, known for his proximity to RJD president Lalu Prasad, echoed Shahabuddin, saying he was never in favour of making Kumar the CM.
“On the one hand, they (RJD) say the alliance is as strong as the Himalaya; on the other, they make wild allegation and uncharitable remarks against the CM,” Choudhary said, obliquely referring to the statement of Lalu’s younger son and deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav after the outburst of Raguvansh and Shahabuddin.
The Congress is relatively a smaller GA partner in that it has 27 MLAs to the RJD’s 80 and JD (U)’s 71. Its acerbic comment is also being seen by political observers as a reaction to Lalu targeting Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and calling him a joker at a public meeting at Mathura in poll-bound UP on Sunday.
On his return to Patna on Tuesday, however, Lalu clarified he never called Rahul a joker. “I was referring to AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, but a section of the media distorted my statement,” he claimed.