Jehanabad MP Arun Kumar harsh on Nitish, soft on Lalu

PATNA: Rashtriya Samata Party (Secular) patron and Jehanabad MP Arun Kumar on Sunday launched blistering attack on CM Nitish Kumar, making it clear that he was unlikely to find any place in the NDA to contest the 2019 parliamentary election.
In fact, giving the reaction, BJP functionary Anil Sharma told media persons, “He is abusing our NDA CM. How can he (Arun) and his party find a place in the NDA?”
Addressing his newly floated party’s first conference at Gandhi Maidan here, Arun said, “You cannot challenge Arun Kumar.” He also alleged that CM Nitish, deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley had formed a triumvirate to support each other.
Arun’s outburst against Nitish came in the backdrop of an FIR lodged against a few RSP(S) functionaries when they were mobilizing support for the Sunday rally. “I am ready to take you (read Nitish) on in one-on-one electoral fight. You will know how much support you have,” Arun said.
Curiously, Arun had won the Jehanabad seat for the first time in 1999 on the JD(U) ticket in alliance with the BJP and then second time in 2014 as the candidate of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) led by Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, who is in the NDA. Later, Arun fell out with Kushwaha also and formed the RSP(S).
In the situation, Arun could find a viable umbrella only in the RJD, the lead party in the non-NDA combine in the state. In his address, Arun was comparatively soft on RJD national president Lalu Prasad, who has been serving jail term in Ranchi owing to his conviction in the fodder scam. He said Lalu had been “framed” in the fodder scam and alleged that Nitish should have been made an accused by the CBI in the multi-crore Srijan scam.
In the backdrop of the assertion of the Savarna (upper caste) groups in the state, Arun said, “Lalu used to speak much against the upper caste groups, but he had never harmed them. Unlike him, Nitish speaks less, but has done more harm to them.” He also said he would work to unseat Nitish from power.
Chetan Anand, son of former Bihar People’s Party (BPP) chief Anand Mohan Singh lodged in the Saharsa jail, also addressed the rally. The RSP(S) functionaries from West Bengal, Haryana and Kerala also addressed the rally.