Bihar: RJD-Congress relationship gets bitter in assembly byelections

PATNA: After over a decade of togetherness in Bihar, the relationship between RJD and Congress is getting bitter day by day on the eve of the assembly bypolls in Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur.
After RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Sunday called Congress Bihar in-charge Bhakta Charan Das a “bhakchonhar” (imprudent person), RJD Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha said Das was away from the ground realities while sitting in the drawing room. Das had said there was no more alliance between RJD and Congress and his party would contest all the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in the next election.
Former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, who has recently joined Congress, referred to Jha as a ‘lathait’ and advised him to ask his boss as to who Das was? Talking to media as well as in the poll campaigns, Kanhaiya is not only criticizing Nitish Kumar’s regime, but has also been critical of the 15 years of Lalu-Rabri rule.
Even former Lok Sabha Speaker and Congress leader Meira Kumar on Monday criticized Lalu for humiliating the Dalit community with his comments on Das.
Meanwhile, Lalu’s elder son Tej Pratap on Monday tweeted against Kanhaiya as well as the Congress. Tej stated that those who raised the slogan of “Bharat tere tukde honge” are now teaching patriotism.
“All those whose posters get viral with the BJP are made to join Congress. Those deceiving in the name of Gandhi are teaching Gandhism. Either you improve yourself, or people will improve you through their votes,” read his tweet.
Even RJD has been softly targeting Congress. It retweeted several tweets posted by individuals against the Congress and how the party was both at the Centre as well as in the state when riots broke out.
However, Lalu’s younger son Tejashwi, in his poll campaign, targets only Nitish and the NDA. It is yet to be seen who Lalu targets in his campaign on Wednesday as the RJD’s rivals are increasing in Bihar.
Political expert Nawal Choudhary said most of the relations, even in real life, are largely based on interest. Talking about the Congress and RJD, he cited the lyrics of film ‘Kaagaz ke Phool’ and said, “Dekhi humne zamane ki yaari, bichde sabhi bari bari.”
He said after poor results in the assembly election, Congress has taken a tough stand, otherwise it would have been sidelined by the RJD.
“Congress feels it can revive. Remember how Lalu told that Kusheshwar Asthan was not given to Congress as it would have lost. Differences between the two parties are widening, but when the two will join hands again once they realize the benefit of coming together,” he said.