The Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) party State President Shakuni Chaudhary on Tuesday criticised the Janata Parivar merger of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and said that the two party leader, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, could never come together. Terming the merger process a grand failure, Chaudhary said that the difference among their top leadership was visible to the masses in the state and hence the merger of RJD and JD (U) was not possible. Commenting on the speculations of HAM head Manjhi’s alliance with Lalu, Shakuni said it cannot be ruled out. Spelling out terms to Lalu for alliance, the HAM leader said, “Lalu needs to leave Nitish and contest the upcoming elections under Manjhi’s leadership.” Recalling Nitish "backstabbing" Lalu, Chaudhary said, “Lalu is again committing the mistake in understanding Nitish. It was Nitish who sent him to jail and still he is supporting Nitish as the chief minister of Bihar.” “If Lalu really thinks about Bihar then he should stop supporting Nitish. And if Lalu comes to join hands with Manjhi then we shall welcome him with open arms,” Chaudhary added. The Janata Parivar merger of the RJD and the JD-U was announced recently ahead of the scheduled Bihar Assembly elections later this year.
