BJP's big charge on ex-JD(U) chief as Nitish takes party's reins:

BJP's big charge on ex-JD(U) chief as Nitish takes party's reins: ‘…to make Tejashwi CM’

Nitish Kumar was elected JD(U) chief at the party's national executive meeting, with incumbent Lalan Singh stepping down and proposing his name.  

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sushil Modi on Saturday claimed that former JD(U) chief Rajiv Ranjan Singh, aka Lalan Singh, had planned to make Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav the chief minister of Bihar by engineering defections in Nitish Kumar's party. Modi, the former deputy of Nitish, said the Bihar chief minister pre-empted Singh's move and timely removed him from the party's top post.  

“We had already announced earlier Lalan Singh would be removed since he broke 12-13 MLAs off the JD(U) party and he had prepared to make Tejashwi Yadav CM by joining hands with Lalu Yadav but Nitish Kumar got to know it so he pre-empted it and removed Lalan Singh timely,” he told reporters in Patna, adding that Singh's removal was just the “beginning of the game”.

“A lot of it is left,” he remarked.

On Nitish taking the reins of the party, Sushil Modi said the JD(U) leader had been the party chief earlier, had all the authority, and again took full control.

“Nitish Kumar has a misunderstanding that the INDIA alliance will make him the convenor or party's face for PM...Our gates are closed for him,” he added.

Kumar was elected Janata Dal (United) president on Friday after Lalan Singh stepped down from the post at the national executive meeting in New Delhi.  

JD(U) chief spokesperson K C Tyagi said Kumar took over as the party president because of his wide acceptability and that he is best placed in dealing with allies. The political resolution adopted at the party went to extra lengths to highlight Kumar's leadership credentials and his ability to take everyone along even under adverse circumstances, in a clear pitch for a key formal role for him in the INDIA bloc.

"The JD(U) believes that bigger parties in the alliance have more responsibilities... They will have to show a big heart to make this grand alliance successful. They will have to be generous if any leader has to be given the responsibility as per experience and capabilities," it said.  

The bigger parties are a clear reference to the likes of the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, which have been cold so far to the idea of elevating Kumar within their alliance.