 "Day after Nitish's assurance, rumours swirl around JD(U) prez's resignation")
Rumours were afloat in Bihar on Tuesday that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's key aide Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan' has told the former he wanted to step down as JD(U) national president.
At the state headquarters of the party here, leaders had a tough time fending off queries of journalists, who also wanted to know whether speculations of a rift between Kumar and Lalan, on account of growing proximity of the latter towards RJD president Lalu Prasad, had a grain of truth.
"You speak of fissures in the JD(U). I say there is not even a scratch, asserted state minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, who had turned up at the party office on his weekly round.
Chaudhary also blamed the rumours surrounding Lalan in the media, saying, "We, in the party, have heard nothing of that sort, but you people give things whatever spin you wish and then drop it when it suits your news cycle".
He evaded a direct reply when asked whether Lalan was likely to make a formal offer of his resignation at the JD(U)'s meeting scheduled in Delhi later this week.
"Please be informed that on December 29, the party's national executive and national council meetings are going to be held. These were long overdue. Also, JD(U) leaders from across the country will sit together and discuss strategy for the Lok Sabha polls due in a few months, said Chaudhary.
His attention was drawn to a claim of senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who as a former deputy CM had known Kumar from close quarters, that the JD(U) supreme leader was growing uneasy with his party chief's closeness with his ally, and fearing a sabotage.
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"You will always see Sushil Kumar Modi speaking about JD(U), but never about his own party. This is because in the BJP he has become a nobody. His sense of mortification has caused his imagination to run wild, Chaudhary said.
However, a senior JD(U) leader, requesting anonymity, said that Lalan has, indeed, expressed his desire to give up the top party post, which he has been occupying for more than a couple of years.
The issue was understood to have come up for discussion when Kumar visited Lalan's house last week.
The CM was said to be not happy with the request of Lalan, who wants to concentrate on retaining his Munger Lok Sabha seat, and feels responsibilities as party's national president made a lot of demand on his time and energy.