After Nitish push, clock ticks for Tejashwi

PATNA: It is now a matter of when - and not if - Nitish Kumar cracks the whip on deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, sources close to the chief minister told The Telegraph on Sunday even as the BJP set a deadline of July 27 for the ouster of RJD chief Lalu Prasad's youngest son from the cabinet. Nitish returned from New Delhi Sunday afternoon and refused to speak to journalists. Sources close to him, however, asserted that action was imminent against Tejashwi, whom the CBI has named in its FIR in a land-for-hotels corruption case. "Earlier, the Congress was tilting towards Lalu," said a senior JDU leader. "Ashok Choudhary tried to broker peace between the JDU and the RJD but failed and handed over the matter to the Congress high command. Nitish met Rahul (on Saturday) and apprised him of everything. "Rahul has understood the crux of the matter and his views have been conveyed to Lalu as well as the Congress," the JDU leader added. "None of the Congress leaders have made any statement after the Nitish-Rahul meeting and are now keeping quiet." The JDU leaders, however, refused to put any timeframe for action on Tejashwi. "We are opposing, reacting and giving opportunity to him (Tejashwi)," said JDU national general secretary K.C. Tyagi. "We are also very clear that we have never tolerated such things earlier and we won't do so in the future. But shall we throw him (Tejashwi) out in two minutes and break the alliance? Please let us tackle the issue in our own way." Many in the political circles called Nitish's New Delhi visit - where he met Rahul Gandhi, veteran JDU leader Sharad Yadav as well as the BJP top brass- a masterstroke that roped in all the powers that could matter to the government in Bihar. There were reports that Sharad had backed Lalu and was on the verge of rebellion. "Sharad, who is a former national president of JDU, changed his tune after meeting Nitish and said that Lalu and Nitish both should save the Grand Alliance," a senior JDU said. "This is important because it puts the onus of saving the alliance on Lalu also." Formally, however, the JDU tried to portray Nitish's Delhi trip as "political courtesy". Party spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar said: "Our party's line on Tejashwi is in the public domain and we have not wavered a single inch from it." Nitish and Lalu were still not talking to each other, sources said, and the RJD stuck to its stand. "Tejashwi has been implicated by the CBI as part of a conspiracy hatched by the RSS-BJP, hence he will not resign," said RJD state president Ram Chandra Purbey. "There has been no blemish on his tenure as deputy CM of the state and his work has been commendable." -The Telegraph Calcutta