Bihar politician Shahabuddin was released from a jail on Saturday. (PTI photo)
Mohammad Shahbuddin, a former lawmaker from Lalu Yadav's RJD, has stirred up politics in Bihar with his attack on chief minister Nitish Kumar in his first words as he stepped out of prison on the weekend.
Top leaders of Mr Kumar's Janata Dal United are expected to hit back today as fault lines are exposed in Bihar's ruling coalition, built hurriedly last year when bitter rivals Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav joined hands along with the Congress to keep the BJP out in Bihar.
The opposition BJP has, meanwhile, met the state's governor today to protest against Mr Shahbuddin being allowed to leave prison after getting bail in a murder case. The four-term former RJD lawmaker, who has almost 40 criminal cases against him, is serving two life terms for murder and was granted bail after 11 years in jail.
Mr Shahbuddin, who described Nitish Kumar as a "circumstantial chief minister" on Saturday, told NDTV today, "I did not say anything wrong. Circumstances and an agreement between three parties made Nitish Kumar chief minister."
He also said, "He is the state's chief minister; he is the leader of the assembly. But I am not a lawmaker anymore so he is not my leader. I am a member of the RJD and my leader is Lalu Yadav."
The RJD was forced to accept Nitish Kumar as the alliance's presumptive chief minister, which was exacerbated by the fact Lalu's party won more seats than Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in last year's assembly election.
Senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, a former union minister, has echoed Mr Shahbuddin saying, "Lalu Prasad is our leader and we wanted him to be chief minister. When the grand alliance was formed, then its leaders decided that Nitish Kumar would be their leader. I did not agree with it but obeyed."
Lalu Yadav cannot contest elections or hold an official position because he was convicted in a corruption case. His sons Tejaswi and Tej Pratap are ministers in the Nitish Kumar government.
Mohammad Shahbuddin's attack on Nitish Kumar is expected to continue. Mr Kumar is credited with ending Shahabuddin's reign of terror in Bihar's Siwan a decade ago, with his government vigorously pursuing cases against him in court and strongly opposing bail.