Maha effect felt on the floor of Bihar assembly; Tejashwi has

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday had a jibe at Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi whom he sought to remind of the "khela" (play) enacted in Bihar a couple of years ago in the thick of the night that helped the BJP achieve power despite having lost the mandate.

The younger son of Lalu Prasad further said had the RJD joined hands with the BJP "he (Modi) would have still been the Deputy CM but serving under a Chief Minister of our party".

The RJD leader had risen in his seat in the Legislative Assembly, speaking in support of other opposition MLAs who were on their feet many of them inside the well raising slogans against police clamp down on a Congress procession by using water cannons and tear gas shells and detaining many senior leaders of the party including MLAs and MLCs.

 

As Yadav began speaking about alleged attempts by the Nitish Kumar government to "muzzle the oppositions voice", he turned towards Modi seated right across and remarked "Modi ji says many fine things happen in the night. Bihar too has seen such a khela..when a government was formed in the thick of the night".

The RJD leader, whom Modi succeeded as Deputy CM, was referring to a tweet by the latter who had defended his party against criticisms from opposition parties over the recent happenings in Maharashtra.

On rivals questioning developments reportedly taking place in the night leading to end of Presidents rule at the crack of dawn followed by swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar as CM and Deputy CM respectively, Modi had tweeted "many big things have happened in the thick of night. Independence was achieved and the Union Jack was lowered at midnight".

Yadavs insinuation was about the developments that took place in Bihar in July, 2017 when Nitish Kumar had resigned in the evening, disapproving of the RJDs refusal to heed demands for his (Tejashwi) resignation in the backdrop of a money laundering case.

The JD(U) leader sprung a surprise less than 24 hours later when he was sworn in as Chief Minister again as he staked claim to form a new government with the support of BJP, paving way for the return of Modi as the Deputy CM four years after he was stripped of the post in the wake of Kumar snapping ties with the saffron party.

Yadavs tongue-in-cheek remark was, however, drowned out in the shouting of slogans by agitated members which prompted Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary to adjourn the proceedings till 2 P.M., within minutes of commencement at 11 A.M.

The pandemonium prevailed leading to adjourned the house for the day within less than 30 minutes of assembling at 2 P.M. for the post-lunch session.

Emerging from the House and faced with a posse of journalists, Yadav went hammers and tongs at Modi and the BJP, claiming that the RJD too had the option of tying up with the saffron party and retaining power but decided otherwise on account of ideological commitments.

"Had we agreed for a compromise, Sushil Modi may still have been the Deputy CM, but under a Chief Minister of the RJD", said Yadav taking a swipe at the BJP leader who has been a bete noire of Lalu Prasad and his family.

Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly also said he saw an uncanny resemblance between the developments that took place in Bihar two years ago and in Maharashtra last week, both of which followed machinations in unearthly hours.

"It seems to have become the BJPs style of functioning. We saw similar things happening in Goa. As the matter is sub judice, I would not like to say much about Maharashtra but wait for the Supreme Courts verdict", Yadav added.

Incidentally, Sushil Modi had claimed during the Lok Sabha polls this year that Nitish Kumars exit from the grand alliance had come months after a meeting Prasad had with the late Union minister Arun Jaitley.

During the meeting, Prasad had offered to topple the government headed by the JD(U) national president and help the BJP come to power in the state in exchange for the Centre going easy on numerous corruption cases against the family members of the RJD supremo, he had asserted.

Modis claim has been dismissed by the RJD, which has been stating that it was the saffron party which had come forward with the offer of a tie-up which Prasad had turned down because of his unflinching commitment to secularism.

Kumar and his JD(U) have, however, maintained a studied silence on the intriguing episode.

Meanwhile, Yadavs remarks seemed to have touched a raw nerve with Modi who came out with a flurry of fresh tweets asserting "of all the constituents of the erstwhile Janata Party only the BJP has stuck to its principles".

He also lambasted the RJD for the "series of scams" that took place during the 15 years that Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi ruled Bihar and "having the audacity to speak of principles despite allying with the Congress and reducing socialism to dynasty politics".

The 15 years of RJD rule had come to an end in 2005 when JD(U)-BJP coalition defeated it in the state polls and Nitish Kumar became chief minister of the NDA ministry.