'Poor Attempt to Stay Relevant': Prashant Kishor Rubbishes Lalu's Claims on Nitish's Return to Alliance

New Delhi: Janata Dal-United (JD-U) vice-president Prashant Kishor on Friday rubbished Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s claims that he served as an emissary to the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s desire to return to the mahagathbandhan in Bihar.

In his soon-to-be released book, the former Bihar CM claimed that Kumar wanted to return to the mahagathbandhan within six months of walking out and allying with BJP, but was rebuffed by Lalu, who had “lost trust in him completely. Lalu also claimed that Kishor, a friend and confidante of Kumar, was sent to him on five different occasions in order to facilitate Kumar’s “re-entry into the secular fold.”

Slamming the RJD chief, Kishor called all his claims “bogus”, adding that it was nothing but a poor attempt of the leader to grab attention. “The claims made by Laluji as reported are BOGUS. This is nothing but a poor attempt seeking relevance by a leader whose best days are behind him. Yes, we did meet many times before I joined JDU, but if I were to tell what all was discussed then he would be quite embarrassed,” he said in a tweet.

Scrambling to his father's aid, RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav backed Lalu's claims and said, "Nitish Kumar sent messages to my father, to me and various Congress leaders with a slew of deals within six months of allying with BJP." Sharpening his attack at Kishor, he further questioned the JD(U) leader's intention. "Does Kishor meet anyone without an agenda?", he said, adding that Kumar will never be accepted back, "even if he chooses to join the mahagthbandhan today".

Lalu, in his forthcoming book ‘Gopalganj to Raisina: My Political Journey’, co-authored by Nalin Verma, also stated that even though he was not bitter with Nitish, he had lost his trust in him completely. “Moreover, I was not sure how the people who had voted for the grand alliance in 2015, and the other parties that had united against the BJP all over the country, would react if I accepted Kishor’s offer,” he added.