Lalu's Offer to Nitish Raises Political Heat

Political temperature in the state has once again heated up amid RJD chief Lalu Prasad's bid to extend an offer to chief minister Nitish Kumar for realignment with the party even as the JD(U) strongman on Thursday downplayed the RJD chief's offer while leader of the Opposition, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, too reiterated there was no chance of his party joining hands with the JD(U).

- Anirban Guha Roy

PATNA:

In a brief interaction with media, CM Nitish Kumar came up with a cryptic response to RJD president Lalu Prasad's offer to return to the INDIA 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, while talking with the media at the Raj Bhawan after the oath-taking ceremony of Arif Mohammed Khan as new Governor of Bihar on Thursday.

Kumar aligned with the RJD, a constituent of the INDIA bloc, twice in the last decade. In 2015, he partnered with the RJD-Congress alliance to form a government but left the coalition in 2017. He rejoined the grand alliance in August 2022. However, after the formation of the INDIA bloc, Kumar exited the coalition in January 2024 to join NDA.