RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav made startling claims on Friday, asserting that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had "begged for forgiveness for past betrayals" before his parents, party supremo Lalu Prasad and former CM Rabri Devi, ahead of their alliance with the JD(U) president in 2022.
Speaking at a rally in Mohania, Kaimur district, organised as part of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Tejashwi Yadav, using the local dialect Bhojpuri, stated, "Nitish ji had, after begging for forgiveness, told my parents that the BJP was trying to split his party and wean away his MLAs".
Kumar had switched allegiance from the BJP to join the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan in 2022.
"We were initially not very inclined towards trusting him again. But there were talks with leaders across the country, all of whom were of the opinion that in the larger interest of the fight against BJP, we should agree. So we made a sacrifice," Yadav added.
Calling Nitish Kumar "a tired Chief Minister," Tejashwi Yadav expressed pride in the Mahagathbandhan's achievements in just 17 months, highlighting the unprecedented scale of government job offerings.
"He (Kumar) had earlier mocked me by asking whether I would use my father's money to pay them salary. But I had told him that our support to his government would require him to help us fulfil the promise of 10 lakh government jobs that I had promised to the people ahead of the 2020 assembly polls," Yadav said.
Yadav alleged that the Mahagathbandhan would have won the assembly polls if not for manipulations by the administration, ensuring their candidates were shown defeated by narrow margins.
Fishing in the troubled waters of the NDA, which Kumar joined, claiming he was there "forever," Tejashwi Yadav expressed skepticism, saying, "Now that Nitish ji is back with the BJP, there is no guarantee that he will not make a flip-flop again".
In response to Tejashwi Yadav's accusations, Bihar Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha said, "Did the CM say that he will keep carrying the horde of the corrupt? You were allowed to make amends but nature and signature don't change. You did exactly what your father did 15 years back. They made poor Bihar even poorer. PM has said that no corrupt person would be spared. CM has also announced in the Assembly. So people are scared and ready to make any compromise".
Tejashwi's statement followed his father's indication that the RJD's "doors were always open" for Kumar, drawing an indignant response from JD(U) that the "famed padlock of Aligarh has now been placed on the doors".
The young RJD leader questioned the chief minister's reasons for leaving and speculated on Kumar's fear of investigation agencies such as ED and CBI.
At a farmers' congregation in Rohtas district, Yadav criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not addressing the demands of protesting cultivators in Delhi.
"He does not have even two minutes to spare for the farmers. But he has time for Priyanka Chopra," said Yadav, referencing the Prime Minister's meeting with the Bollywood star.
Yadav, who had joined Rahul Gandhi for a roadshow in Sasaram, asserted that setbacks notwithstanding, the opposition bloc was in high spirits, as reflected in a slogan borrowed from a Bollywood song - "Hum INDIA waale".