Nitish Kumar begged Lalu Yadav for 'forgiveness in 2022, says Tejashwi Yadav

RJD leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav has claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar "begged for forgiveness for past betrayals" from his parents, party supremo Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, while trying to leave the NDA in 2022.

"Nitish ji had, after begging for forgiveness, told my parents that the BJP was trying to split his party and wean away his MLAs," Tejashwi Yadav was quoted by media reports.

Nitish Kumar had snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA in August 2022 and formed an alliance with the RJD to form the government in the state. Tejashwi Yadav was sworn in as his deputy, while Nitish Kumar became the CM.

However, Kumar decided to switch sides again last month and took oath for a record ninth time to form an NDA government.

Tejashwi Yadav also said the RJD "made a sacrifice" when it decided to trust Nitish Kumar.

"We were initially not very inclined towards trusting him again. But there were talks with leaders across the country, all of whom were of the opinion that in the larger interest of the fight against BJP, we should agree. So we made a sacrifice," said the former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister.

Speaking at a rally in Bihar's Mohania as part of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Tejashwi Yadav also said there is no guarantee that Nitish Kumar will not make a "flip-flop" again.

He added that when he was the deputy Chief Minister, he told Nitish Kumar the RJD's support would require the JDU chief to provide the people with government jobs.

"I had told him that our support for his government would require him to help us fulfil the promise of 10 lakh government jobs that I had promised to the people ahead of the 2020 assembly polls," said Yadav. He added that Kumar at first "mocked" him by asking if he would use Lalu Yadav's money to pay the salary for the jobs.

Speaking on Nitish Kumar's latest change in alliance, Tejashwi Yadav said, "We asked the chief minister to at least explain why he was turning his back on us. But he could give no reason. We wonder if he is afraid of the ED and CBI".

He added that he said in the Bihar Assembly that Prime Minister Narendra Modi prides himself on his guarantees, but even he cannot guarantee that Nitish Kumar will not change sides again.