Patna, March 6 JD(U) workers continued to protest Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to enter the Rajya Sabha, a move seen as signaling the end of his more than two-and-a-half-decade-long career in Bihar politics.
At the JD(U) office here, located right across from the BJP's state headquarters, angry party members staged a demonstration alleging that "traitors" had conspired with an alliance partner to "get rid of" their leader, who had been a major obstacle for the "powerful liquor lobby" since he implemented prohibition.
"There are some people in our party who are acting like Jaichand (the 12th-century Rajput chieftain who aided the Afghan invader Muhammad Ghori). One is in the Union cabinet, and the other has come from the BJP and is now controlling us", an angry JD(U) worker alleged.
This reference was to Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan, a long-time associate of Nitish Kumar and a former party president, and Sanjay Kumar Jha, the JD(U)'s working president, who had started as a BJP youth wing worker in the 1990s.
Neither Lalan nor Jha have responded to the allegations that have been leveled against them since Kumar filed his nomination papers for Rajya Sabha polls on Thursday, shortly after announcing his intention on social media.
JD(U) workers alleged that "the BJP is using the same tactic against Nitish Kumar that it used against Karpoori Thakur, who faced opposition from the Jan Sangh after implementing prohibition. We have learned that a deal worth crores has been struck between the party's traitors and the BJP. They have been paid heavily by the powerful liquor lobby to get rid of Nitish Kumar, which would pave the way for the lifting of the ban on liquor".
Notably, the ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol in the state was implemented by Nitish Kumar in April 2016, following an electoral promise he had made to the state's women several months earlier.
The JD(U) workers also said, "The BJP needs to be taught a lesson. They campaigned for '400 paar' in the parliamentary elections and ended up losing the majority. They are running the government at the Centre with our help. In Bihar, when our slogan 'pachis se tees, phir se Nitish' (Nitish once again, from 2025-30) was adopted by the NDA, the coalition got a resounding victory. Now that they have plotted against our leader, they will have to face the consequences in Bihar".
In front of the chief minister's residence, located a couple of kilometers away, stood a JD(U) supporter, Amarendra Das Trilok, holding a placard urging Kumar to reconsider his decision.
"I am not aware of any conspiracy that may have led to this drastic step. But I am here to express my anguish over the decision of my leader to abandon Bihar. We feel betrayed. The state is indebted to him. He must not leave us in the lurch", said Trilok.
When JD(U) spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar was approached with questions about the turmoil in the party, he said, "It is natural for our members to feel aggrieved. In their frustration, they are making various statements. I personally do not believe that Nitish Kumar is a leader who can be pressured into doing anything. But our top leadership must address their concerns".
Former state BJP president Dilip Jaiswal declined to comment on the allegations made by a section of JD(U) workers, saying, "Nitish Kumar took a decision that we respect. I am not privy to what the new government that will be formed after he gets elected to the Rajya Sabha will be like. That decision will be made by our top leadership".
Responding to a query, Jaiswal, who is now a minister in the state cabinet, said, "I am not in the race for the chief minister's post. Who will occupy the post and whether he will be from our party or not are things that only our top leadership can comment upon".
Meanwhile, a senior JD(U) leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told
