Bihar Elections 2020: Chirag Paswan touched Nitish Kumar's feet at his father's memorial.
On Tuesday, when Nitish Kumar arrived at his father Ram Vilas Paswan's memorial, Chirag Paswan touched the Chief Minister's feet as a mark of respect. Shortly after Nitish Kumar left, Chirag Paswan released a list of candidates that included the daughter of a Janata Dal United leader.
Komal Singh, a Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) candidate for the Bihar election starting next week, is the daughter of Nitish Kumar's party lawmaker Dinesh Singh.
The name should be troubling for the Chief Minister on several counts.
Stung Janata Dal United leaders argue that Komal Singh's mother Veena Singh is a member of the LJP from Vaishali.
But sources say it was her father Dinesh Singh who talked Chirag Paswan into naming her his party's candidate from Gaighat. And he did so despite the bitterness between Nitish Kumar and Chirag Paswan and knowing full well that the Gaighat JDU candidate - Maheshwar Yadav - was handpicked by the Chief Minister.
Whether Dinesh Singh had tried to get his daughter into the JDU candidates' list is not known.
Sources close to Chirag Paswan say Nitish Kumar should definitely be concerned if his own party legislator doesn't have the confidence in his ability to win.
Bihar will vote in three phases between October 28 and November 7 and the results will be declared on November 10.
In the bitter campaign preceding the polls, Chirag Paswan has accused Nitish Kumar of insulting his father Ram Vilas Paswan, who died on October 8, and giving him the cold shoulder because of their political rivalry. In an interview to NDTV, Chirag Paswan had said that he touched Nitish Kumar's feet at Patna airport, where they had gathered for the arrival of his father's body, but the Chief Minister refused to acknowledge him.
Yesterday, the same gesture played out differently. Nitish Kumar acknowledged Chirag Paswan's feet-touching and later sat with him, delivering a very rare visual of the allies-turned-rivals together.
But it was business as usual soon after, with Chirag Paswan throwing a challenge to the Chief Minister by naming his party leader's daughter as a candidate.