Patna: With questions being raised on the fate of the merger of Janata Parivar splinter parties, RJD president Lalu Prasad today nullified speculation that the process had hit a dead end and asserted that it was on. “Merger is on. Mulayam Singh Yadav is authorised to speak on it. So everybody will not talk about it at different places. Discipline needs to be maintained on this,” Prasad told reporters.
The RJD president's assertions on the merger was aimed to nullify speculation that the process had hit a dead end. Rubbishing media reports on cancellation of a meeting on the merger at the residence of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in Delhi today, Lalu said “No such meeting was scheduled.
This is just a propaganda spread by the BJP” and that he would hold a rally on March 15 after the February 26 wedding of his youngest daughter.
“Merger will happen. It is a separate duty. But this does not mean we stop working in the meantime. This is the reason RJD is holding a march to BJP headquarter on March 15,” he said adding, likewise Nitish Kumar was also chalking out the JD(U)'s programme to activate party workers. “Our main target is BJP... who speaks what here and there, I do not care,” the RJD supremo said.
The RJD president sought to play down Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's repeated assertions that a Dalit should be the next Chief Minister of Bihar.
“There are 350 castes, and leaders speak a few things to awake people from their deep slumber. What will happen and who will be the chief minister, all these will be decided by the public... we should not pay much attention on these things,” Lalu said.
On the dinner diplomacy within the JD(U), the RJD supremo refused to take it seriously and said “If somebody invites for dinner, then we should go to enjoy food. If I invite people to my place, will they not come?”
Separate dinners hosted by state food minister Shyam Rajak, a close confidante of Nitish Kumar, and by JD(U) MLA Uday Manjhi last night, gave strength to the power tussle between Kumar and Manjhi.
