'Kursi Kumar' Swings From One Tree Branch to the Next: Lalu Prasad Mocks Nitish Kumar's Grand Alliance Exit

Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad has taken a dig at Nitish Kumar, calling his erstwhile alliance partner a “monkey who swings from one tree branch to the next”. In his autobiography, Prasad referred to Kumar as “Paltu Kumar” and “Kursi Kumar”, accusing him of joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after his exit from the grand alliance to retain power in Bihar.

Prasad’s soon-to-be released book — Gopalganj to Raisina: My Political Journey — has ruffled feathers after the former Bihar CM claimed that Kumar wanted to return to the mahagathbandhan within six months of walking out but was rebuffed by Prasad who had “lost trust in him completely”. Lalu also claimed that Prashant Kishor, a friend and confidante of Kumar, was sent to him on five different occasions in order to facilitate Kumar’s “re-entry into the secular fold”.

However, Kishor on Friday rubbished Prasad’s claims that he served as an emissary, calling them “bogus” and added that it was nothing but a poor attempt of the leader to grab attention. “The claims made by Laluji as reported are BOGUS. This is nothing but a poor attempt seeking relevance by a leader whose best days are behind him. Yes, we did meet many times before I joined JDU, but if I were to tell what all was discussed then he would be quite embarrassed,” he said in a tweet.

Later, scrambling to his father’s aid, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav backed the claims and said, "Nitish Kumar sent messages to my father, to me and various Congress leaders with a slew of deals within six months of allying with BJP." Sharpening his attack at Kishor, he further questioned the JD(U) leader's intention. "Does Kishor meet anyone without an agenda?" he said, adding that Kumar will never be accepted back, "even if he chooses to join the mahagathbandhan today".