Prashant Kishor rubbishes Rabri’s claim on merger

Patna, April 13 (IANS) Poll strategist-turned-politician and JD-U Vice President Prashant Kishor on Saturday rubbished RJD chief Lalu Prasad's wife and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi's claim that he has proposed for a merger of the JD-U with the RJD in return for declaring Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its Prime Ministerial candidate.

"Those convicted or facing charges of abuse of public office and misappropriation of funds are claiming to be the custodians of truth," Prashant Kishor tweeted in response to Rabri Devi's claim.

He challenged Lalu Prasad to face the media alongside him any time any where -- "and all will come to know what talks took place between me and him and who has given what offer to whom," he said.

Rabri Devi said that she was angry after hearing Prashant Kishor's proposal and had asked Kishor to immediately leave her bungalow as there was no trust left in Nitish Kumar after he betrayed the Rashtriya Janata Dal and cheated people.

"Nitish Kumar lost his credential and faith of trust when he joined BJP and formed the government in July 2017 after dumping RJD and Congress.It was a big betrayal of the people's mandate," she said.

It is not the first time that Prashant Kishor has downplayed this political issue. Soon after Lalu Prasad in his yet to be released autobiography claimed that Prashant Kishor approached him to broker Nitish's JD-U's return to the Grand Alliance, Kishor has denied it.

Prashant Kishor, however, later admitted that he had met Lalu Prasad many times before joining JD-U last year. "If I were to tell what all was discussed, he (Lalu Prasad) would not be in position to speak."

Earlier Kishor said: "The claims made by Laluji as reported are 'bogus'. This is nothing but a poor attempt to seek relevance by a leader whose best days are behind him."

According to the book "Gopalganj to Raisina: My Political Journey", Nitish Kumar sent Kishor to meet Lalu Prasad five times to convince him to allow Nitish Kumar's re-entry into the Grand Alliance but was refused.

Last week Tejashwi Yadav tweeted: "Nitish Kumar wanted to rejoin mahagathbandhan says Lalu Prasad in upcoming book. I say this with full responsibility that Nitish Kumar made many attempts to get back and ally with us, he tried several times within six months of returning to the NDA."