RJD extends olive branch to Nitish, says make Tejashwi CM and become Oppn PM candidate

The fresh offer from RJD, comes close on the heels of BJP poaching JD(U) and making six out of its seven MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh to join BJP

Two days after Nitish Kumar resigned as the JD(U) national president and reiterated that he was not keen on becoming the Bihar chief minister in November, the main Opposition party—RJD—has extended an olive branch to Nitish.

“Dump the NDA and join hands with us. Make Tejashwi Bihar chief minister and you play a national role by becoming Opposition prime minister candidate for 2024 polls,” opined senior RJD leader and former Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary.

Incidentally, Choudhary, a known Dalit face in Bihar, has worked closely with both Nitish as well as Lalu Prasad and was Bihar Assembly Speaker from 2005 to 2015, when he was in the JD(U).

The fresh offer from the RJD, a former ally of Nitish, comes close on the heels of the BJP poaching JD(U) and making six out of its seven MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh to join BJP. Two days later, Nitish relinquished the post of JD(U) national president and made public his anguish of “not interested in Bihar CM post.”

The winter of discontent within the NDA was quite palpable when the JD(U) sent a stern message to the BJP that it should not demand a ‘love-jihad’ law in Bihar as “the Indian Constitution allows any two consenting adults to chose a partner of his/her choice and opt for inter-faith marriage.”

The JD(U) national general secretary K C Tyagi went to the extent of ringing an alarm bell when he averred: “An attempt is being made in the country to create mistrust and hatred in the name of love jihad. There will be no such law in Bihar.”

Fishing in turbulent waters of Bihar, the RJD on Tuesday asked Nitish to beware of the BJP design as the saffron camp was gradually weakening Nitish under a design and would decimate him if he continued to stay within the NDA.

“It’s still not too late. Read the writing on the wall. Be a large-hearted leader and appoint Tejashwi as the next chief minister. The time has come for you to play national-level politics. We will support you as Opposition’s prime ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha polls,” the senior RJD leader and Lalu confidant Uday Narayan Choudhary said here on Tuesday.