Tejashwi Yadav rules out accepting Nitish Kumar again in Mahagathbandhan, says JD-U leader will be "burden, extra baggage" wherever he stays

Patna (Bihar) [India], June 22 (ANI): Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav has firmly ruled out any possibility of his party again joining hands with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying that "a mistake can't be forgiven twice" and alleged that the Janata Dal-United leader will be a "burden" and "extra-baggage" wherever he stays.
In an interview with ANI, Yadav spoke about Nitish Kumar joining hands again with his party in 2022 due to BJP trying to "split" his party and claimed there is a question mark about JD-U's existence after the assembly polls this year.
"No, not at all," he said when asked about any possibility of reconciliation with Nitish Kumar and his father Lalu Prasad, a former Bihar Chief Minster, agreeing if there is any proposal of rejoining hands.
"I know my father. If someone makes one mistake, it's okay, it should be forgiven. But now he has made the same mistake twice. It can't be forgiven. And now, wherever Nitish ji stays, forgive me, he will an extra baggage, remain a burden," Tejashwi Yadav said.
The former Deputy Chief Minister said Nitish Kumar blames others in the party for his U-turns. "A person who cannot take his own decision, how can he take for 14 crore people of Bihar," the RJD leader asked.
On his part, Nitish Kumar has said that he made a mistake in past by joining hands with RJD and will remain permanently in NDA.
Nitish Kumar, who is the longest-serving Chief Minister of Bihar, first parted with BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in 2013 and joined hands with RJD. However, he returned to NDA in 2017 and again left it in 2022. He went back to NDA ahead of Lok Sabha polls last year.
Asked who will be political successor to Nitish Kumar in JD-U, Tejashwi Yadav claimed the party may not survive after this year's assembly polls.
"If the party survives only then. There is a question that the party will not survive. If it does, we can discuss this question then. First thing is that his party survives. He came to us (in 2022) to save his party and INDIA alliance was later formed. He had said that his party was being broken, that's why he had come," Tejashwi Yadav said.
Assembly polls in Bihar will be held later this year. RJD and Congress are part of the opposition Mahagathbandhan.
Interacting with the media on Thursday, Tejashwi Yadav accused the Nitish Kumar government of lacking a vision.
"We will force the government to speak on IT parks, SEZ (Special Economic Zone), industrial clusters, industrial parks, semiconductor factories, food processing units, textile hubs, educational hubs and health cities. This is our vision: all-around development. The government will be forced to pay attention to these topics," he said.
"Nitish Kumar was there for 20 years, and PM Modi has been there for the last 11 years. Why were the things mentioned above not established? But when Tejashwi comes, he will complete all these works," he added.
Opposition parties in Bihar have talked about "health condition" of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav also took potshots during his presser.
"Nitish Kumar's unconscious state is a blessing for them. The JDU tickets will also be distributed by Amit Shah... This is confirmed. Sanjay Jha is a BJP-RSS person. He is in JD(U) from the Arun Jaitley quota," Tejashwi Yadav claimed.
Political parties are gearing up for the assembly polls. Nitish Kumar announced on Saturday that pension to widows, senior citizens and people with disabilities would be increased from Rs 400 to Rs 1100 per month. (ANI)