Patna: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday denied internal conflict within the party and said there was no 'shakti pradarshan' (demonstration of power) as well. The question was posed by a journalist on the sidelines of his weekly Janta Darbar in which Nitish categorically said that the party is united.
The question was asked in the backdrop of the first visit of RCP Singh to Patna after becoming the Union Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On August 6, when Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh had visited Patna for the first time after being elected as JDU national president, he had received a grand welcome from airport to Party office.
In the same pattern, RCP was given grand welcome from the airport to the party office with a large number of people following his cavalcade on road. The crowd was so huge on busy Bailey Road that it took more than three hours for RCP to reach the JDU office located at Beer Chand Patel Path.
The scale of the crowd could be understood from the fact that it took more than three hours to cover the distance of less than five km. Something similar had happened during the visit of Lalan Singh. However, the RCP crowd was more organised in comparison to Lalan.
For quite some time 'poster war' has been going on within the JDU as if the party was divided into two groups. One group was reportedly led by RCP and another was led by Lalan Singh and Upendra Kushwaha. The RCP group wanted to make a bigger event in comparison to Lalan. However, Nitish tried to downplay the whole event by issuing a statement.
“No Shakti Pradarshan (demonstration of power) is going on in JDU. When someone (read Lalan) had become national president, a welcome was organised. Similarly, someone (read RCP) has become a minister in Union government so his welcome has been organised by the party. There are no differences in the party. Sometimes, when I read such news items in the newspaper, I feel like laughing at it. When someone is getting a responsibility, he is treated with respect by the party,” Nitish said.
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He further said, “For what purpose, there would be any differences. It was me who had earlier advocated the name of RCP Singh as national president of the party. It was RCP ji who said that now Lalan ji should become the national president. We are all united.”
However, a few incidents in the past have sent a clear indication of groupism within the JDU. Before the arrival of RCP, JDU MLA Abhay Kushwaha had come out with a huge hoarding in which JDU president Lalan was missing. Abhay is considered to be the close confidante of RCP.
Not only this, the dispute within the party came to the fore when JDU parliamentary board chairman Upendra Kushwha feigned ignorance about the arrival of RCP to Patna. “I have no idea about the arrival of RCP Singh ji since I have not got any invitation from the party office. I have also not got any invitation to attend any programme related to RCP Singh ji,” Kushwaha said before kicking off his fourth phase of Yatra to Jehanabad.
Ever since Kushwaha has merged his RLSP in JDU, RCP is not in cordial relation with him. In fact, RCP was missing from the scene when Kushwaha had merged his party in the presence of Nitish. Today, when RCP received the grand welcome, Kushwaha was missing from the rally. Neither Lalan was seen around.
When a question was posed to RCP about his differences with Lalan, RCP was quick to respond and said, “I have no differences with Lalan babu, those who are talking like this do not know my relation with him. I have an old bonding with Lalan babu There is no issue of leadership, there is only one leader in the party- Nitish Kumar ji. He is the one to whom we all follow.
RCP was replying to the question of the media personnel at the party office in the presence of thousands of supporters.
Though Nitish denied rift in the JDU, political experts opined that if there was no rift and differences in the party, then why Kushwaha issued such statements.
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“How come Upendra Kushwaha issued such a statement that he was not aware about the visit of union minister RCP Singh? If there are no differences, why RCP had to give the justification that he has an old bonding with Lala Singh? Why does the CM have to explain this all? Mature politicians like Nitish will never accept it in public. Whether Nitish ji accepts it or not but a parellel power centre is surely building up," said Dr Sanjay Kumar, a Patna based political expert.
He further said that if there are no differences why two power centres are seen in Bihar one led by RCP group and another led by Lalan Singh group.
