As Grumbles Grow Louder Within Ally RJD, Nitish Kumar's Terse Response

Patna: Brushing off a chorus of criticism directed at the RJD-JD(U) alliance which rules Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said he does not care for what "others" say.

"People of Bihar have given me a mandate and I am working according to it. I don't care what others say about me," he said today in Patna.

The remark came after senior Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh joined his just-out-of-jail party colleague Mohd Shahabuddin in criticising the Bihar chief minister.

Mr Singh said he did not agree with the joint RJD-JDU alliance's decision to make Nitish Kumar Chief Minister.

"Our leader is Lalu Yadav there is no argument about it. People in the Maha Gathbandhan (Grand Alliance) had sat down and decided beforehand, which I did not agree with it. But the politicians and leaders had decided, so I had to agree," he said.

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Yesterday, Mr Shahabuddin, who walked out of jail after 11 years, following a murder charge on bail, had said his leader was Mr Yadav, and not Mr Kumar. "Nitish Kumar is a leader of circumstances, my leader is Lalu Yadav," Mr Shahabuddin, a member of the RJD's national executive, had said.

Nitish Kumar had secured a third term as chief minister last year, after his party Janata Dal-United (JDU) forged an alliance with Lalu Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), a bitter rival for years, and the Congress, to raise an united front against the BJP.

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Though Mr Yadav and Mr Kumar have maintained cordial relations in public, occasional expressions of dissent within both parties have revealed the fractious relationship between their men.