Nitish, Lalu smoke peace pipe, for now

NEW DELHI/PATNA: A telephonic conversation between Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Wednesday may have resulted in a truce between the warring allies for the time being, but JD(U) sources acknowledge that the trust deficit caused by some recent developments, especially the “machination“ to topple Nitish Kumar, has rendered the coalition vulnerable.

JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi also clarified that his remark on Tuesday, that JD (U) was more comfortable while in alliance with BJP, should not be treated as indicative of the party's intent to pull out of the secular coalition. “There's no question of joining hands with BJP and we want to strengthen the Mahagathbandhan,“ Tyagi said. The clarification notwithstanding, JD(U) circles remained unsure of RJD's intent.

“We have information that two senior RJD officials, including a

Rajya Sabha

MP, had personal meetings with two senior BJP leaders. What was the point of holding secular confabulations with those whom you call your foe? And that too when agencies were on the verge of taking action against benami properties owned by Lalu Yadav's family?“ asked a senior JD(U) official.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity , the JD(U) official was merely echoing the suspicion in his party about a section in RJD that wanted to appease the Centre by destabilizing Nitish in lieu of help with probes and cases against Lalu clan.

Party sources said that the distrust is not going to go away even if Nitish and Lalu restrain their party functionaries from recriminating, and matters may come to a head if they were to diverge again, suggesting that a flashpoint may arise should the I-T department decide to prosecute Lalu's younger son and putative successor, deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, for allegedly holding undeclared assets.

The I-T department last week confiscated assets worth Rs 170 crore allegedly belonging to Tejashwi and his kin and, going by the procedure under the law, he is set to be prosecuted. JD(U) has refrained from endorsing RJD's charge that the IT probe against Lalu clan is part of BJP's political conspiracy. A JD(U) leader expressed dismay over attacks by RJD leaders on the Bihar CM for supporting NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind for presidential polls. “We have conveyed a strong message that alliance and tirade against Nitish can't go along any more,“ said the senior JDU functionary , who also spoke on the condition of anonymity.

K C Tyagi, while ruling out rapprochement with BJP, also said JD(U) was was disappointed by the way Congress and other opposition parties reacted to JD(U)'s support to the NDA nominee, Ram Nath Kovind. He also took on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as he questioned his visit to Italy .“The all-party meeting decided to organise farmer agitations at district level after the Mandsaur incident. But Rahul suddenly went abroad and his party has been conspicuously away from the agitations. Now agitation over farmers issues has fizzled out for which parties should find out who is responsible,“ Tyagi said.

Empower states to confiscate launderers' assets: Bihar CM
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Wednesday urged the Centre to amend the law related to

money laundering

and empower the states along with Enforcement Directorate to have at least limited power to confiscate property amassed through illegal means. “The ED deals with bigger cases and does not have time to look into the cases related to small amounts.“ He urged the Centre to amend the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and empower the states to confiscate property worth up to Rs10 crore.