A routine flight between Delhi and Patna recently took an unexpected turn as Union Minister Giriraj Singh and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav engaged in a mid-air exchange, sparking controversy in Bihar’s political landscape.
After landing, Giriraj Singh asserted that during the mid-air meeting, Lalu Prasad Yadav said he believed that Bihar’s future rested on his son Tejashwi Yadav’s leadership, a claim the Deputy Chief Minister promptly denied.
The claim made by the senior BJP leader stirred speculation about a possible internal rift within the INDIA bloc, especially after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal proposed Mallikarjun Kharge’s name.
Tejashwi Yadav called Giriraj Singh’s claims ‘bekaar’ (worthless) and said the BJP leader and his father talked about everything but his political future.
“Giriraj Singh enquired about my father’s health and even expressed interest in being hosted for a mutton supper,” said Tejashwi, who was accompanying his father on the flight.
In a twist, Tejashwi Yadav claimed that Giriraj expressed concerns about his political future on the flight following the post-poll strategic decisions made by the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan.
Reacting to the mid-air meeting of Giriraj Singh and Lalu Prasad, former Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Modi also claimed that all was not well within the INDIA bloc.
“The quick telephonic follow-up makes it clear that all is not well within the INDIA bloc and hence the damage control,” Sushil Modi said.
While questioning Tejashwi Yadav’s silence when Mallikarjun Kharge’s name was pitched by Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal, Sushil Modi asked what stopped Tejashwi from pitching for Nitish Kumar before that of Kharge.
LJP leader Chirag Paswan, too, jumped into the controversy and said that such demands and assertions had been coming from RJD ranks.
Chirag Paswan alleged that all was not well within the INDIA bloc after Kharge’s name was announced and said Nitish Kumar has lost his composure ever since the announcement was made.