'Lull before the storm': NDA leaders in Bihar claim 18 opposition MLAs ready to switch sides
PATNA: The political temperature in Bihar has heated up once again after leaders of the NDA's two major partiesthe Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United)claimed on Friday that as many as 18 MLAs of the Opposition Mahagathbandhan are in constant touch with them and ready to switch sides. Senior BJP leader and state health minister Mangal Pandey said that the rift within Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasads family was a clear indication about growing discontent among party leaders after the results of the Bihar assembly elections were declared last month. There is a lull before the storm in the Mahagathbandhan. The discontent that grew over poor performance of the alliance in general and RJD in particular in the recently concluded state assembly elections will not stop here. The resentment will come out soon. Wait for some time and you will feel the heat, Pandey told the media. Echoing his views, JD(U) MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar claimed that as many as 18 MLAs of the Mahagathbandhan were in touch with the ruling NDA. What is noticeable is that the offer has come from the MLAs themselves, he said. RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan, however, dismissed NDA leaders claims, describing it as a political design to spread rumours about discontent in the Mahagathbandhan bloc. All Opposition bloc constituents are intact, he claimed. In response to a query, the RJD leader said that MLAs of the alliance have been elected by the people to raise basic issues like unemployment, migration, inflation and poor healthcare in the state assembly. The question of defection in the alliance does not arise, he asserted. The NDA leaders remarks came barely days after five MLAs of the AIMIM met chief minister Nitish Kumar at his official residence in Patna, triggering speculation about a possible defection. Though the MLAs contended that they called on CM Nitish with certain demands of people of their constituencies, political observers feel it may be a part of the JD(U)s strategy to boost its strength in the assembly. While the JD(U) won 85 of the 102 seats it contested in the assembly polls, its ally the BJP won 89 seats and emerged as the single largest party in the 243-member assembly. Among the other NDA constituents, the LJP(RV) won 19 seats followed by five by the HAM and four by the RLM. On the Opposition side, the RJD won 25 seats followed by six by the Congress, two by the CPI-ML, one by the CPI(M) and one by IP Guptas party. The Opposition seat tally in the House is just 35.
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