Patna,(BiharTimes): Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad has largely remained silent over the recent row after the recently released party MP Mohammad Shahabuddin’s remark that Nitish Kumar is the chief minister of the circumstances.
Lalu, who was in New Delhi for a health check-upand is later touring weatern Uttar Pradesh is keeping a close watch on the situation.
However, he chose to remain reticent. He has weathered such mini-storms in the past few months and knows that things would soon settle down.
Lalu is aware of the fact that Shahabuddin has ‘suffered’ a lot at the hands of Nitish Kumar, especially when he was in alliance with the BJP, so the Siwan strongman’s reaction is somewhat natural.
Though Shahabuddin is not as strong as he is being made out by the media––his wife lost two Lok Sabha elections from Siwan and RJD lost Siwan seat even in 2015 Assembly election––Lalu knows that he still can not dissociate himself from the former MP.
Similarly, the RJD chief can not ignore the political compulsion of Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who after losing the last Lok Sabha election from Vaishali, has become ‘unemployed’.
The RJD vice president has, even in the past, been accusing Nitish of walking away with all the credit for the rural development works, such as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, though actually it was the achievement of the UPA government and he was heading that ministry then.
But the propaganda machinery of the then JD(U)-BJP government not only took all credit for building rural roads, but also of the East-West Corridor, Golden Quadrilateral and all the National Highways, when actually the credit should have gone to the Centre.
Raghuvansh, on his part, is well aware of the fact that he would sink into oblivion if he does not regularly issue statements against the chief minister.
In such a situation Lalu will have to do a lot of tightrope walking. He can not afford to lose Nitish Kumar nor Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Shahabuddin for obvious reasons.
For his political revival and planting sons and daughter it is essential to keep friendship with Nitish alive.And for his future politics he can not ignore his two senior party leaders.
