What happened during Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav's in-flight meeting
A picture of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his former deputy Tejashwi Yadav seated together on a Vistara Patna-Delhi flight on the vote-counting day (June 4) of the Lok Sabha elections took the internet by storm. They were believed to be on their way to New Delhi to attend alliance meetings. Kumar's party, Janata Dal (United), is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which won 292 seats. The BJP alone won just 240 seats.
Kumar and Yadav's in-flight interaction detailed
With the BJP failing to cross the 272 majority mark on its own, the party's allies, such as the JD(U) and N Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP), become the saving grace. Certain that the BJP-led NDA will form the government again with the help of allies, Kumar reportedly urged Yadav to join him. Reports said Kumar initiated a conversation with Yadav shortly after the flight took off. He showed his inked index finger to Yadav, asking, "What about you?"
Yadav confirms in-flight interaction, denies political discussion
Yadav responded by raising his own inked finger. A woman who was seated next to Kumar was requested to exchange seats with Yadav. On Wednesday, Yadav confirmed the in-flight interaction with Kumar to reporters, stating: "We greeted each other, I was allotted the seat behind him but he saw me and called me to sit with him." However, sources maintain that there was no political discussion during their time together on the flight.
Post-Flight political activities of Kumar and Yadav
Upon landing in Delhi, Kumar and Yadav attended their political meetings. Kumar pledged his support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP at the NDA meeting on Wednesday evening. On the other hand, Yadav participated in a meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc. According to party insiders, the JDU, which won 12 Lok Sabha seats, expects two Cabinet posts and one MoS role. They noted that the Railways minister position will be a key choice.
