New Delhi: CBI and ED raids notwithstanding, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav continues to enjoy the support of Bihar’s Muslims and Yadavs.
This, according to sources, is why Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is finding it difficult to come out of the grand alliance and join hands with the BJP. Some of the party leaders also pointed out that even though Mr Kumar could remain in power with the support of the BJP, the JD(U) would not only “lose” the support of the Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) combination, but also would be “at the mercy of the saffronites”.
In the House of 243, the halfway mark in the Bihar Assembly is 122. The grand alliance is comfortably perched with 178 MLAs which include 80 MLAs of the RJD, 71 of JD(U) and 27 of the Congress. The BJP has 58 MLAs. If Mr Kumar takes up BJP’s support, he would still remain in power with the total strength of 129 but would be hugely dependent on the saffron party.
Moreover, Mr Kumar, who proved to be more popular than the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi during the Bihar Assembly polls would be “completely overshadowed by him”.
The M-Y combination in Bihar is around 31 per cent, which includes nearly 17 per cent Muslims and 14 per cent Yadavs.
