Editor Bihar’s ruling alliance appears to be well on its way to imploding with its main stakeholders – Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav – setting conditions for each other that are impossible to meet.
Yesterday, Nitish Kumar who is Chief Minister, made it clear that he expects Lalu Yadav’s son, Tejashwi Yadav, to quit the government. At 28, Tejashwi Yadav is the No 2 in the government – which makes it all the more problematic for him to be named in a mega corruption case by the CBI. “I didn’t even have a moustache then,”said Tejashwi Yadav today to reporters, referring to the provenance of the alleged corruption. He stressed “this alliance will not break.”
That may turn out to be wishful thinking. Yesterday, Nitish Kumar addressed a large meeting of delegates from his party, the Janata Dal (United) or JD-U, and reiterated his “zero-tolerance to corruption” while also failing the defense offered by the Yadav family of the charges against them.
Top leaders of Lalu Yadav’s party met last night with the 71-year-old and doubled down on the agreement that Tejashwi Yadav must not quit since there is no credible evidence against him so far. They also said Nitish Kumar’s requirement of the Yadavs issuing a detailed rejoinder to the charges against them is impractical and offensive. Comparing the Chief Minister’s calling of a point-by-point explanation of the charges filed by the CBI to a “kangaroo court”, Lalu Yadav’s supporters, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said “it would be like a pretend public hearing where you know it’s just a formality for you to be heard before you are beaten to death.”
Nitish Kumar is unlikely to be moved by that analogy. He has made it clear that to make things right, the Yadavs are obliged to yank Tejashwi from the government, sparing the Chief Minister the task of removing him.
