Manoj Chaurasia : What’s brewing in the JD-U, Congress cauldron ?

Courtsey : The Statesman

Manoj ChaurasiaPatna, April 2: Is there something cooking up between the JD-U and the Congress? Could they opt for post-poll alliance? Political circles are abuzz with these hypothetical queries these days but none have contradicted them either. The ongoing speculation got stoked further when the Bihar chief minister Mr Nitish Kumar today went amazingly soft on Mr Rahul Gandhi despite the latter’s strong criticism of the ruling NDA government in Bihar but went too harsh on Mr Varun Gandhi for his alleged communal remarks. “Rahul is currently in the probation period. I don’t think it fit to make comments on his remarks”, the chief minister told newsmen in his party office today. While addressing election rallies at two places in Bihar yesterday, Congress’ young face and party’s star campaigner Mr Gandhi had ruthlessly attacked the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar for its failures on various fronts but especially at the way the government handled the last year’s Kosi floods. “I saw people had lost everything (in the floods) but your government still did not reach there. When I visited some areas where army men were engaged in relief work and asked the jawans if anyone from the State government had come, the answer was in the negative”, Mr Gandhi told a rally at Buxur. He added: “We send money and schemes for you people but it does not reach you”. Not only that, the CM also parried a query as to whether his party might enter into post-poll alliance with the Congress. “Congress should, at first, stand on its feet, then we will discuss the issue”, the CM replied. This is second time in the last one week that the chief minister and the Congress have praised each other, much to the surprise of political pundits. Last week, the Congress had hugely praised the “secular credentials” of the chief minister after latter strongly condemned the communal remarks of BJP leader Mr Gandhi Gandhi although his party is tied up with the BJP.