DNA Edit: Lalu bomb - A biography has stirred a hornet’s nest in Bihar

Lalu Yadav’s biography, penned by a senior journalist, has stirred a hornet’s nest, as was probably its intention. In the biography — a gossipy and anecdotal account of Bihar and national politics — the most explosive revelation is that after Nitish Kumar walked out of the JD(U)-RJD coalition government in 2017, the Chief Minister had made overtures to Lalu to merge the two parties and promote some sort of a national front. The overture came from political strategist and national vice-president JD(U) Prashant Kishor, presumably at Nitish’s behest. Such a claim would raise hackles at the best of times, but coming as it does during the course of general elections, its ramifications are quite different. While Nitish has discreetly decided to stay out of the controversy, Kishor has other ideas. He has challenged Lalu to disclose details of what transpired during their talks at an open press conference.

The RJD camp, including Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav, have both claimed that they told off Kishor, expressing no confidence in Nitish Kumar and his propensity to make U-turns. So who is speaking the truth? No one can say for sure, but there is no doubt that such explosive information — if it can be established with any degree of certainty — is a game changer. If true, it is a none-too-veiled suggestion that Nitish Kumar was finding the going tough and would need a strong partner like the RJD to stay afloat. It also has the potential to damage the JD(U)-BJP combination. But it is equally true that Nitish, over the last two-three decades, has done well in any election he has contested, whether with the BJP or the RJD, showing that he knows his ground. The coming elections will vindicate the positions of the two sides, though it may never be known who met whom to discuss what.