Looking for Nitish

Barely had the brouhaha around the formation of the Janata Parivar died down when there was speculation about Nitish Kumar's no-show at a Patna rally addressed by Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday. The event was organised by Bihar Kumhar-Prajapati Samanvaya Samiti, which takes up issues related to the people of the Kumhar caste. The Kumhars constitute about 30 per cent of Bihar's population. Always the showman, Lalu played down the absence of a key ally. "My presence means Nitish, too, has attended the programme. Don't get misled by such things," he told the crowd.