File photo of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
After weeks of broad hints, Lalu Yadav's party today got straight to the point. "Nitish Kumar cannot be the Chief Ministerial candidate of an alliance that includes us," said Raghuvansh Prasad Singh of Lalu's Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD. "Any decision on the chief minister will be taken only after the results are declared," he said.
In recent weeks, it has been clear that the proposed alliance between Lalu and Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, is not in good nick. After a lengthy and hostile battle, the two leaders were delivered to peace largely by the BJP. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign led to huge gains for his party in Bihar in last year's national election, Lalu and Nitish found a way to work together. In August 2014, they combined with the Congress to take on the BJP in by-elections for 10 seats and won six.
Then, in April, they teamed with four other parties to announce the Janta Parivaar, described as a mega-merger. That proved to be too ambitious a project and has been all but shelved. Now, even configuring an alliance for the Bihar election is a daunting task.
"I have saved the Nitish government twice in the last year... we all need to be clear about this," said Lalu last night, signaling tough negotiations. Lalu cannot run for office because of an earlier conviction in a corruption case.
The BJP, meanwhile, continues talks with Jitan Ram Manjhi, whom Mr Kumar installed as his replacement during a nine-month time-out from office, an experiment that ended poorly.
Mr Manjhi's stint as Chief Minister has expanded his stature as a leader of the Mahadalits, among the poorest castes in Bihar. The BJP largely draws support from the upper castes, so an arrangement with Mr Manjhi is expected to be beneficial.