Is Nitish Kumar moving to Delhi, asks RJD after Bihar CM allotted bungalow in city.

NewDelhi: Bihar’s main opposition party RJD has sought to know if the BJP, which is in power at the Centre, is planning to move Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to Delhi, days after the latter was allotted a posh bungalow in Lutyens Delhi.

Taking a dig at the Janata Dal-United leader, the Lalu Yadav-led party has sought to know, ”If Nitish has decided to handover Bihar to BJP before shifting his base to Delhi?”

The reaction from RJD came days after the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs allotted the top bracket bungalow at 6, K Kamraj Lane to the JD(U) supremo.

Since every state has a certain quota of bungalows in the national capital, based on that quota, Kumar, as the chief minister of Bihar, was allotted one, a top government official had then said.

Kumar made headlines after he decided to shun the grand alliance of the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and rejoined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to form the government in Bihar last year.

Following the split, former JD(U) president Sharad Yadav and party leader Ali Anwar were expelled from the Rajya Sabha in December last.

Sharad Yadav is expected to launch his own party soon.

As the railway minister in the NDA government i.e. from 2001 to 2004, Kumar had lived in one of the biggest bungalows at Akbar Road in the national capital.

Nitish Kumar, meanwhile, faces his first major electoral test after he severed ties with the Grand Alliance (mahagathbandhan) last year, in the bypolls for Araria Lok Sabha and Bhabua and Jehanabad assembly seats slated for Sunday.

Kumar’s JD (U) is contesting the Jehanabad assembly seat, leaving Araria and Bhabua to its ally, the BJP.

Kumar was reluctant to field his party candidate in the by-elections, but later yielded to pressure from the BJP.

With JD(U) also in the fray, the electoral battle has turned into a prestige fight for both the NDA and the UPA, comprising the RJD and the Congress.

The RJD, the major constituent in the UPA in the state, gave room for the Congress to field its nominee for Bhabua assembly seat, while it has put up candidates for the other two seats.