Patna: The ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), headed by Lalu Prasad, has slammed its own government in Bihar after no one from his family was given place on invitation cards printed for the much-publicised Bihar foundation day celebrations.
The three-day celebrations, held at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan to mark the 105th formation day of the state, concluded on Friday.
In what appeared to be the first major sign of cracks in the ruling Bihar coalition, no member of the Prasad family attended the function in protest, robbing the function of much of its shine.
The “total boycott” assumes much significance given the fact that the RJD president’s two sons are ministers in the Nitish Kumar government.
While his younger son Tejashwi Yadav is the deputy chief minister, the elder son Tej Pratap Yadav is health minister in the government.
The RJD chief’s wife Rabri Devi is a member of the Upper House in the Bihar legislature, whereas Prasad himself happens to be the national president of the party.
Likewise, Prasad’s elder daughter Misa Bharti is a member of the Rajya Sabha.
All however gave the function a miss, leading to tongue-wagging in political circles.
“We have nothing to say,” were the curt replies of Prasad’s wife Rabri Devi and deputy chief minister son Tejashwi.
His other son Tej Pratap, who is a health minister in the government, however, was more blunt: “I celebrated the Bihar Diwas at home”.
According to RJD insiders, the Prasad family was angry over the way the name of the deputy chief minister was excluded from the invitation card.
The card mentioned the names of only two persons. It said the chief minister would inaugurate the function and education minister Ashok Chaudhary would preside over it.
The deputy chief minister avoided the function, although he extended his greetings to the people of Bihar through his Twitter handle.
The RJD has now attacked the government for the major lapse.
“The chief minister will have to explain as to why the name of the deputy chief minister was missing from the invitation card. This is a serious mistake which can’t be ignored,” RJD spokesperson Mrintunjay Tiwari told journalists.
Another party spokesperson, Shakti Yadav, also described it as a serious error on the part of the officials concerned.
The sour relations between the two alliance partners, the RJD and the Janata Dal United (JD-U), were very much visible again when the chief minister supported a BJP candidate against the RJD nominee in the just-held state council elections, results of which were announced last week.
The BJP candidate Awadhesh Narayan Singh, who is currently chairman of the Bihar Legislative Council, won the elections in the end.
Soon after the results were announced, Singh had said he was able to win the elections just because of the support of the chief minister. The startling revelation didn’t go well within the RJD camp.
There is yet another bone of contention between the two alliance partners. Reports said the chief minister wants to continue Singh as the Council chairman while the RJD want to see its own man to this post.
