Can't live with or without you: Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar's love-hate relationship

The rivalry between Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar is known to one and all. When Lalu Prasad Yadav became chief minister of Bihar in 1990, they were both thick friends. Kumar was also Lalu Prasad's right hand man when Yadav became chief minister in 1990. However, both of them parted ways in 1994 due to major disagreements on Lalu's way of administration (rather maladministration).

And then Nitish Kumar left the Janata Dal and went on to form the Samata Party with George Fernandes. The bitterness between Yadav and Kumar reached a level where they avoided taking each other's names in public. After launching their own parties, they fiercely fought against each other in every election in Bihar. From 1997 to 2005, Nitish Kumar even led a campaign against the malpractices of the Lalu government, especially focusing on the infamous fodder scam and the high crime rates in the state. In 2005, Nitish Kumar, in alliance with the BJP, outsed Lalu and became the chief minister.

But Kumar's decision to break away from the BJP proved to be a stupendous mistake and this is clearly seen when he resigned from his post of CM immediately after BJP swept the national elections.

The RJD-JD(U) have come together for the by poll of the assembly seats, with the Congress being the third wheel. They have also split the seats between the three, with the RJD and JD(U) contesting four seats each and two for the Congress. Sonia Gandhi even hosted an Iftar party on Sunday, with this alliance being the top priority. 

Mangal Pandey of the BJP says, "The situation is very clear. Two people who have lost have come together." In spite of so much animosity and rivalry between the two, the phrase "keep your friends close but your enemies closer" finds its true expression in this alliance. 

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The new found friendship between RJD, JD(U) and Congress was reflected at an Iftar party hosted by RJD president Lalu Prasad, with senior leaders of the three parties participating in it in large numbers. Read more