Called four times to enquire about Lalu's health: Nitish

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said he had made four calls to enquire about ally-turned adversary Lalu Prasad's health out of human consideration and without any political motivation.

His remark came days after Prasad's younger son Tejashwi Yadav had dismissed Kumar's gesture as a "late courtesy call" in a tweet on June 27 after the RJD supremo underwent a fistula surgery at a Mumbai-based hospital.

"I called up four times to enquire about Lalu ji's health, who has been an old associate, keeping aside political differences, " the chief minister told reporters after his weekly public interaction programme Lok Samvad here.

"I called up and spoke to Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha when Lalu ji was admitted at AIIMS in Delhi. I spoke to Bhola Yadav (MLA and Prasad's close aide) on at least three occasions. When I spoke to him after the completion of surgery, Bhola Yadav handed over the phone to his recuperating leader," he said.

Kumar and Prasad are products of the 1974 JP movement and were popularly referred as "Bade Bhai (Lalu) and Chhote Bhai (Nitish)" in the political circle due to their age difference.

Kumar had separated from Prasad in 1994 to form the Samata Party that became an ally of the BJP in the NDA, and after a long gap, they had teamed up again in 2015 for the Bihar Assembly polls.

But their renewed friendship did not last long and they parted ways last year, leading to the disintegration of the Grand Alliance, which also comprised the Congress.

Tejashwi, who had served as Kumar's deputy in the previous Grand Alliance government in Bihar, had dismissed the gesture as "nothing but a late courtesy call".

He had alleged that the chief minister got to know about his father's ill-health after four months of hospitalisation.

However, Kumar said, "People today react to things about which they do not have adequate knowledge."
Earlier, Tejashwi, whom the RJD has declared as its chief ministerial candidate for the next assembly polls, had stated that the door is closed for Kumar's return to the Grand Alliance
Replying to further queries on the issue of support for prohibition outside the state, he said, "I have had no talks with any other party or government outside the state."