Tejashwi Yadav's Nameplate Removed After No-Show at Patna Event, Nitish Kumar Attends

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar attended a skill development event in the state capital on Saturday without his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, fuelling rumours of a rift in the Bihar Mahagathbandhan.

Tejashwi Yadav, who has been booked by the CBI in a corruption case, had been invited to the Vishwa Yuva Kaushal Divas, but gave the event a miss. His nameplate on the dais was first covered and later removed.

Apart from Tejashwi, his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and mother Rabri Devi have also been booked. Lalu has been accused of influencing the awarding of an IRCTC tender when he was the railway minister in 2005 and accepting prime land in return. The land was allegedly transferred to Tejashwi and Rabri via a shell company.

On Tejashwi’s non-appearance at the event, JD(U)’s KC Tyagi told CNN-News18, “It is not a big deal. You should ask Tejashwi why he did not attend the event.”

Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) has ramped up pressure on its alliance partner, asking it to come clean on the allegations.

"The RJD, which is showing arrogance of 80 MLAs, should not forget that it was reduced to 22 MLAs in the 2010 state polls and in the election in 2015, their number swelled due to the credible face of Nitish Kumar as the head of the coalition," JD(U) chief spokesman Sanjay Singh told PTI.

The JD(U) has 71 MLAs and the other alliance partner Congress has 27 while the BJP, which is the main opposition in the House, has 53 MLAs.

The RJD, on the other hand, has ruled out Tejashwi’s resignation.

"Tejashwi will not resign. There is no question of his resignation," Lalu Prasad told the media on Friday after holding a nearly three-hour-long meeting with senior party leaders and legislators at his official residence.

"Mahagathbandhan (ruling Grand Alliance) is intact in Bihar and he and his party will not do anything which can give any space to the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to step into Bihar."

The BJP has put the onus on Nitish now. “Nitish Kumar should suspend him (Tejashwi) now. There is no other option left.... Even Lalu hadn’t resigned when the fodder scam chargesheet was filed. The RJD doesn’t care about CM (Nitish Kumar),” BJP leader and former Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi told CNN-News18.

Speaking to CNN-News18, BJP leader Nitin Naveen said, “There is no question of supporting Tejashwi. We (the BJP) are waiting for Nitish Kumar’s decision.”

“Nitish has to decide if he wants power or stance. He can have one, not both. Either he sticks with Tejashwi and stays in power or he can stick to his no-corruption stance and lose the government.”