Shakeel Ahmed, Congress General Secretary and MP from Bihar (File pic)
New Delhi:
Congressmen find it remarkable that none of Narendra Modi's tweets yesterday reflected the day's biggest political development - Lalu Prasad being sent to jail in a fodder scam case.
The Gujarat Chief Minister is known to first air his views on any subject on Twitter. Among the 24 lakh who follow his posts on the social networking site, there seem to be some Congressmen.
Like Shakeel Ahmed, party General Secretary and MP from Bihar, who took a swipe this morning at the BJP's presumptive prime minister when he tweeted, "Despite his four tweets of yesterday Narendra Modi's silence on Lalu Prasad's conviction shows he isn't happy because it suits Nitish Kumar."
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad was yesterday held guilty of corruption by a Jharkhand court and convicted. That has effectively out the brakes on the Bihar leader's political career. He stands disqualified from the Lok Sabha and cannot contest the next elections, unless a higher court overrules his conviction.
Mr Prasad is Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's chief political rival in the state. Mr Kumar refused to comment on Mr Prasad being convicted and sent to jail.
Mr Prasad has been a BJP baiter for long and that party said yesterday that his conviction was a "defining moment for Indian politics". But there was no reaction from Mr Modi.
The animosity that Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar share is well documented. Mr Kumar pulled his party, the Janata Dal (United), out of a 17-year-old alliance with the BJP earlier this year because of the rise of Mr Modi in the party.
Since then, the Bihar Chief Minister has seemed to warm up to the Congress, sparking speculation that new political alignments are in the offing. The likelihood of that increased yesterday, with the conviction of Lalu Prasad, who has been a Congress ally for some years now, but whose political future and that of his party, look bleak now.
The Gujarat Chief Minister is known to first air his views on any subject on Twitter. Among the 24 lakh who follow his posts on the social networking site, there seem to be some Congressmen.
Like Shakeel Ahmed, party General Secretary and MP from Bihar, who took a swipe this morning at the BJP's presumptive prime minister when he tweeted, "Despite his four tweets of yesterday Narendra Modi's silence on Lalu Prasad's conviction shows he isn't happy because it suits Nitish Kumar."
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad was yesterday held guilty of corruption by a Jharkhand court and convicted. That has effectively out the brakes on the Bihar leader's political career. He stands disqualified from the Lok Sabha and cannot contest the next elections, unless a higher court overrules his conviction.
Mr Prasad is Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's chief political rival in the state. Mr Kumar refused to comment on Mr Prasad being convicted and sent to jail.
Mr Prasad has been a BJP baiter for long and that party said yesterday that his conviction was a "defining moment for Indian politics". But there was no reaction from Mr Modi.
The animosity that Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar share is well documented. Mr Kumar pulled his party, the Janata Dal (United), out of a 17-year-old alliance with the BJP earlier this year because of the rise of Mr Modi in the party.
Since then, the Bihar Chief Minister has seemed to warm up to the Congress, sparking speculation that new political alignments are in the offing. The likelihood of that increased yesterday, with the conviction of Lalu Prasad, who has been a Congress ally for some years now, but whose political future and that of his party, look bleak now.
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