Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar attended an Iftar party today hosted by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, days after the RJD's victory in the Bochahan bypoll, which indicated Mr Yadav organised the party as a show of strength, considering the attendance.
Others who came to the RJD leader's Patna home for the Iftar party include BJP leaders Awadhesh Narayan Singh and Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, Lok Janshakti Party's Chirag Paswan, Tejashwi Yadav's siblings Tej Pratap Yadav and Misa Bharti, and his mother Rabri Devi.
Nitish Kumar attended the Iftar party at Tejashwi Yadav's home after a gap of five years; the last was in 2017 when the Janata Dal (United) chief dumped Bihar's Grand Alliance and rebooted a partnership with the BJP. The ties between Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav's family then had hit rock bottom.
Today, the Bihar Chief Minister walked down to Rabri Devi's home, some 50 metres away, to attend the party.
Tejashwi Yadav and Nitish Kumar head to the Iftar party
Chirag Paswan was seen touching Nitish Kumar's feet; both met for the first time since the younger politician's father Ram Vilas Paswan's death due to a cardiac arrest in October 2020.
The mood at the Iftar party was upbeat for another reason - RJD patriarch Lalu Yadav got bail in a fodder scam case.
"Me and Sushil Modi ji had hosted Iftar and Nitish Kumar had also come there. Here, Tejashwi Yadav has hosted one and we were invited, so we have come. There is no need to make any political issue out of this," Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said.
After Nitish Kumar left, Tejaswi Yadav and Rabri Devi joked with Chirag Paswan to get married soon.
Nitish Kumar's presence at the party hosted by a leader of his former Grand Alliance partner is significant in light of recent buzz over alliance partner BJP's intent to send him to Delhi and get another Chief Minister for Bihar. Nitish Kumar became Chief Minister for a fourth term in November 2020, despite his JDU delivering a dismal performance by wining 43 seats compared to the unprecedented 74 seats of the BJP, which became the big brother in the alliance.
There have been demands by some BJP MLAs that Nitish Kumar should step down and there be a BJP Chief Minister, amid strong buzz over Mr Kumar's possible candidature for presidential elections and speculation that he is eyeing a stint in Rajya Sabha.
Home Minister Amit Shah is coming to Bihar tomorrow to attend Veer Kunwar Singh Jayanti.
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