Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar have joined hands to fight the BJP in the upcoming by-elections in ten constituencies in Bihar. The BJP, however, is less than impressed.
Senior BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh termed the alliance between the two as an "after-effect of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections." He said, "They were sworn enemies - Nitish had gone to the extent of saying that the RJD Government was a jungle raj that the JD(U) would overthrow. Now, he has himself walked into the jungle and embraced it." He dismissed their union as "votebank politics."
Chirag Paswan, whose Lok Janshakti Party allied with the BJP before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, told ANI, "Their coming together shows how scared they are of us. They have come together out of political helplessness, not for the sake of development."
BJP vice-president MA Naqvi was unconcerned over their union.
"Nitish and Lalu will become a danger to each other and will challenge one another very soon," he told ANI, adding that there is no danger to the BJP through their alliance.
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh agreed, stating that their alliance is a sign of weakness.