JD-U rejects Lalu appeal to correct ‘historic blunder’

Patna The ruling Janata Dal United (JD-U) in Bihar headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar Friday refused to budge from its stand hours after its ally, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), appealed to the former to correct what it called a “historic blunder”.

The JD-U has announced support to BJP-led NDA’s presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind against opposition’s Meira Kumar, the former Lok Sabha Speaker. Both the presidential candidates have strong Bihar connections and are Dalits. While Kovind served as the Governor of Bihar before being named as presidential candidate, former LS Speaker Kumar hails from Bhojpur district of Bihar.

“We won’t go back from our decision to back NDA presidential candidate. We took this decision after much deliberation. Political decisions are not changed in seconds or minutes,” JD-U’s chief spokespersons KC Tyagi told the media Friday.

He, though, added that their support didn’t mean the party was headed towards the NDA. “Our support has nothing to do with the NDA. This is an isolated case and we are still committed to opposition unity,” he claimed.

State JD-U president Vashishtha Narayan Singh too made similar statements. “There is no question of going back from our decision. We have taken this decision after consulting each and every party leaders and lawmakers,” Singh asserted.

The refusal came shortly after the RJD president appealed to the JD-U to make correction in its decision. “Nitish Kumar has committed historic blunder, but he still has time to correct it. The sooner, the better,” Prasad told the media in Patna on Friday.

He wondered over the way the chief minister took the unilateral decision. “It was he (Kumar) who had initiated unity move in the opposition camp but I don’t what prompted the chief minister extend support to the NDA,” Prasad said. The RJD president described NDA candidate as a “hardline RSS man who “can’t be a good person”.

Making comparisons between the two presidential candidates, Prasad said Kumar, daughter of great Dalit leader Babu Jagjivan Ram, could not be compared to her NDA rival.

The Congress party too attacked the JD-U for cosying up with the NDA. “How can the man sitting in the lap of hardliners be a good person?” asked Congress minister Abdul Jalil Mastan, questioning the JD-U’s decision to support NDA’s presidential candidate, adding “Kovind had been the controversial person right from the beginning.”

In a new twist to the presidential elections, no representative from the JD-U attended Kovind’s nomination function in Delhi on Friday. Kovind filed his nomination in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several top NDA leaders as well as chief ministers of at least 20 states.

The JD-U, RJD and the Congress are partners in the ruling Grand Alliance government in Bihar.