Lalu seeks to douse fire, says Nitish is leader of coalition

The RJD president, however, defended party strongman Mohammad Shahabuddin, saying he did not made any derogatory comments. “This turmoil is created by the media,” Prasad told reporters at Patna airport. With fissures appearing in the ruling coalition following RJD vice-president Raghubansh Prasad Singh’s remarks on Kumar while supporting Shahabuddin’s comment that he was “Chief Minister by circumstance”, Prasad asserted “Nitish Kumar is the leader of the coalition.” “The coalition is intact and there is no danger to it,” Prasad, whose son Tejaswi Yadav is Deputy Chief Minister and another son Tej Pratap Yadav is the state Health Minister, said.

With fissures surfacing within the grand secular alliance following the sparring between RJD and JD(U), the third coalition partner Congress on Tuesday strongly stood behind Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and told RJD that if they are not comfortable in the coalition they could walk out. “If you feel you are not comfortable in the alliance, you are free to walk out,” state Congress chief and Bihar minister Ashok Choudhary said while reacting sharply to the snide comments on Nitish some RJD leaders. “You say there is rock solid unity in the coalition and yet your leaders pass snide comments on the mukhiya (chief) of the coalition government,” he said. The Congress’ strong reaction came in the wake of the controversy triggered by RJD vice-president Raghubansh Prasad Singh’s barb against Nitish Kumar while backing party leader Mohammad Shahabuddin’s utterances on him that he was a “circumstantial CM.”