Old foes Lalu, Nitish come closer, to join hands

‘If vote share of RJD, JD(U) in LS poll is combined, it will go up to 45 per cent which will be enough to defeat BJP’

Vaishali: With both the RJD and JD(U) decimated by BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, RJD chief Lalu Prasad indicated at fighting the coming Assembly elections in Bihar with the JD(U).

"If the vote share of both RJD and JD(U) in the recent Parliamentary poll in the state is combined it will go up to 45 per cent which will be enough to defeat BJP," he said.

"We will sit together and talk about the feasibility of such an alliance. The parties connected with the 'Mandal' concept of social justice will have to unite in the present political scenario. There is a need for change and we have to think about it. We will have to take everybody along," he said.

"The Mandal Commission is a bomb which RJD workers should be ready to ignite," Prasad told the two-day 18th foundation day function of the RJD here.

Politics in Bihar had taken a sharp turn in the '90s after implementation of Mandal commission report providing reservation for OBCs in government jobs. The mandal forces had swept aside Congress from power since then.

Janata Dal came to power under Lalu Prasad in 1989 and continued to rule the state till 2005 when Nitish Kumar another OBC leader, who was with Lalu Prasad initially but parted company in 1994 to float a new party, replaced it.

Prasad whose closeness with rival Nitish Kumar was visible in recent days said prospects of an alliance would be discussed with the former chief ministers in the days to come.