Doors of Grand Alliance shut on Nitish Kumar: Tejashwi
Patna, June 26: Setting at rest all speculation about Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joining the Grand Alliance in the state, RJD leader and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday said there is no chance of extending him an invitation ahead of the 2019 general elections.
"Why should we offer those to join the Grand Alliance who insulted the mandate of the people? We will not allow their entry into the Grand Alliance," Tejashwi, also a former Deputy Chief Minister, told the media here.
Reporters had asked him whether the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) allies -- Congress and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) -- had invited Nitish Kumar to join the Grand Alliance with certain conditions.
Tejashwi, the younger son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, categorically said that the doors of the Grand Alliance were closed for Nitish Kumar. "People also want this as he has proved himself a 'Paltu Ram' (a turncoat)."
He, however, said that the Grand Alliance was ready to welcome Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) chief and Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha. "We will welcome his (Kushwaha) entry into Grand Alliance."
It was being widely speculated that senior Congress leader Shakti Singh Gohil, who is party incharge for Bihar, has asked Nitish Kumar to join the Grand Alliance. Besides, another ally HAM chief and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi also extended an invitation on the condition that Tejashwi would be the chief ministerial candidate in the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls.
The Grand Alliance comprises the Congress, RJD and the HAM. In February this year, the HAM walked out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and joined the Grand Alliance.
Last July, Nitish Kumar -- also Janata Dal-United (JD-U) president -- joined hands with the BJP and formed the government in the state after dumping the Congress and the RJD.
In the 2015 state polls, the Grand Alliance of JD-U, RJD and the Congress had defeated the BJP-led NDA.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
