Patna, Dec 12: After BJP's poor poll show, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav Wednesday asked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar if he was willing to go back on his assertion that there would be no challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 general elections.

Tejashwi's remark came in the backdrop of assembly poll results in three states -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh -- where the BJP lost to the Congress, an ally in the RJD-led grand alliance in Bihar.

"Just after switching sides to the NDA, Nitish Kumar had said that nobody has the potential to challenge Modi.

"With all humility, I want to ask Nitish Kumar as what is your take on this (the statement) now. Are you contemplating to take a u-turn again after talking to your conscience? Aren't you Chacha ji?," Tejashwi, who is the opposition leader in Bihar, tweeted.

Nitish Kumar had dumped the RJD and the Congress, to rejoin the BJP-led NDA in 2017.

After snapping ties, Kumar had said, "Now nobody has the potential to pose challenge to PM Modi."

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Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.

The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time. 

The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra. 

"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI. 

Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing. 

Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added. 

Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.

Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said. 

More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.

Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said. 

"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said. 

Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.

The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.