Strange bedfellows

Friends in need, indeed. Wary about the prospects of mid-term polls, the RJD—which fears the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U)-BJP alliance consolidating itself in Bihar—has started working on Ram Vilas Paswan for an understanding to minimise losses in case of early elections. Considering the fact that Paswan’s parting ways in the last Bihar Assembly elections cost Lalu dear, the RJD now wants to keep Paswan in good humour. In fact, such is the eagerness that at a public meeting organised in Paswan’s constituency some time ago, the RJD’s Raghuvansh Prasad greeted Paswan with Goonje dharti aasman, Ram Vilas Paswan, the slogan usually used by Paswan’s supporters. Although the patch-up effort started before the current crisis, this is likely to gather momentum in the wake of speculations about early polls.