Lalu Yadav had ruled out his son Tejashwi's resignation as Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister
Highlights
- 'Wanted Tejashwi to resign. Now BJP is in power': RJD's Maheshwar Yadav
- Nitish Kumar had made it clear that Tejashwi cannot stay his deputy
- Lalu had told his MLAs they must protect Tejashwi as he could be sacked
Lalu Yadav, smarting at what he called
Nitish Kumar's betrayal by getting back together with the BJP, told reporters today: "I am not selfish... if so, why would I have let him be Chief Minister?" A senior leader of his party disagrees, and has gone public with criticism of his boss's judgement.
"We wanted that the alliance should not break. But Tejashwi (Lalu Yadav's son) did not resign and unfortunately, the coalition did collapse," Maheshwar Yadav, a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader told reporters today, calling it his "inner voice".
Nitish Kumar resigned yesterday as Chief Minister, ending the
mahagathbandhan or grand alliance he had crafted with Lalu Yadav and the Congress for the 2015 Bihar polls, which they won.
Mr Kumar had made it clear over the past few days that Lalu Yadav's son Tejashwi, accused of corruption, cannot stay his Deputy. Fatherhood appeared to prevail over political prudence and on Wednesday morning, Lalu Yadav made it clear that Tejashwi would not resign. Hours later, Mr Kumar was on his way to the governor's house with an air of finality.
Lalu Yadav had reportedly told his lawmakers in a meeting that they must also protect Tejashwi as he could be sacked.
"We wanted Tejashwi to resign. But he didn't quit and Nitish got angry. Now we don't have our government and the BJP is in power," said Maheshwar Yadav.
"We are very angry. Many are angry. Many people didn't want the coalition to split," he revealed.
Asked how he would vote in Mr Kumar's trust vote tomorrow, Maheshwar Yadav said: "We will vote according to the party whip. But my heart is with Nitish Kumar - he did very good things, he ended liquor in Bihar..."
Reacting to Lalu Yadav's charge that Mr Kumar betrayed the people's mandate by joining hands with the BJP, the RJD leader demurred: "We all betrayed the mandate. Nitish wanted Tejashwi's resignation. If Tejashwi had resigned, our government would have survived. The Congress is also at fault for not mediating."