Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav came to the rescue of the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad Mahagathbandhan after its unity was threatened by the verbal duel over Mohammad Shahabuddin.
Yadav made it clear that it was necessary to break from the past and look towards the future.
Lalu Prasad Yadav was quick to follow his son’s advice.
Tejashwi deliberately distanced himself from the legacy of his party while speaking to The Telegraph.
“I want to forget the past and live in the present. People have given a mandate to us for constructive work and we must respect that. I am more focused on issues related to development. A certain section of the media does not want to show the good things of Bihar and is more interested in an useless issue which has no relevance,” Tejashwi said, taking a dig at the Opposition for raising the issue of Shahabuddin, who was freed from jail last Saturday following his bail from Patna High Court in a murder case.
Tejashwi also said that earlier when his father was the CM, social justice used to be the central issue, which has now been replaced by development.
Tejashwi’s comment comes at a time when there is a tiff going on between the JDU and the RJD over Shahabuddin with the JDU making it clear that it will back any appeal made in the Supreme Court against Shahabuddin’s bail.
Tejashwi said that such matters are for the judiciary to take a decision on and the government would abide by its order.
Lalu also showed his complete agreement with Tejashwi saying, “Past is past, enjoy the present, think about the future” at his 10 Circular Road residence. He, thereby, made it clear, though subtly, that Shahabuddin is a matter of the past and it is best to leave it there.
Lalu came under pressure over his elder son, Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav’s photograph with an absconding shooter, Mohammad Kaif, convicted in the murder of journalist Rajdev Ranjan.
Lalu lashed out at his retractors for making an issue out of nothing.
“The NDA is restive and they want to us to quarrel which will not happen. Nitish is the leader of the Grand Alliance and the government has better things to do,” Lalu asserted.
Tejashwi said the same while talking to The Telegraph.
“He (Shahabuddin) never attacked CM, he had just said Laluji was his leader. When Anant Singh had said the same thing, that Nitishji was his leader and not Laluji, nobody made it an issue. But today, when Shahabuddin said a similar thing, it has become a contentious issue. Why?”
(Source: The Telegraph)
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