Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday made a call to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav to inquire about his health, ANI reported. Yadav is undergoing treatment at Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai. While Nitish's gesture raised many speculations, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav downplayed it all and made it clear that there is no place for him in the party. Deprecating Kumar's gesture, Tejashwi termed it as a "late courtesy call" which came after the ministers in the NDA government at the Centre had visited his father at the Mumbai hospital. "Nothing but a late courtesy call to enquire about his health as he underwent fistula operation on Sunday. Surprisingly, Nitish ji got to know about his ill health after four months of hospitalization," Yadav tweeted. "I hope he realizes he is the last politician to enquire following the BJP/NDA ministers visiting him," said the younger Yadav son in another tweet apparently in reference to the courtesy calls by Union ministers Claiming that Kumar was feeling "uncomfortable" in the BJP-led NDA, Tejashwi Yadav said "the door is closed" for his return to the grand alliance. The Leader of the Opposition in Bihar also rubbished suggestions by the leaders of the RJD's ally Congress that Kumar's return to the "mahagathbandhan" could be considered if he chose to snap ties with the BJP. #Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to inquire about his health. Lalu Prasad Yadav is undergoing treatment at Asian Heart Institute in #Mumbai. (File pics) pic.twitter.com/BWqA3PhaiK — ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2018 Read | BJP observes black day to mark 43rd anniversary of 1975 Emergency "They are not authorized to take a decision in this regard," Tejashwi told reporters. "After Kumar ditched us last year and rejoined the NDA, he tried to sell the idea to the people of Bihar that he had the welfare of the state in mind and that with the NDA in power both at the Centre and in the state, Bihar would be equipped with a double engine that will speed up its development. Nothing of that sort has happened," Yadav, the younger son of RJD president Lalu Prasad, said. Also Read | After Indira Gandhi’s comparison with Hitler, Congress says Modi is crueler than Aurangzeb "Even his hopes for grant of a special category status, or at least a special economic package, have been dashed. The Centre has snubbed him on this count and despite being an alliance partner, he is not in a position to confront the BJP on the issue," alleged the RJD heir apparent. "In this backdrop, it seems, he (Kumar) is making up his mind for yet another turnaround. The recent assertions by the leaders of his party that the JD(U) was the big brother in the NDA and that it should be given more seats in the next Lok Sabha polls point to that direction," he said. "But he is now left with little credibility. There is no guarantee that if we, speaking hypothetically, agree to yet another tie-up, he would not ditch us some time later. The door is now closed," the former deputy CM said. (With PTI inputs)
