Lalu Prasad accuses Nitish of betrayal

"Tejaswi Yadav was just an excuse ... The match was fixed between him (Kumar) and the BJP to form a government together," Prasad told reporters.

Calling Kumar an "opportunist" and "Paltu Ram" (turncoat), he said, even if Tejaswi had tendered his resignation the JD(U) leader would have gone ahead with his plan to split the alliance.

Kumar had in a blistering attack on Prasad yesterday said he had no option but to walk out of the Grand Alliance as he did not want to compromise with corruption.

Ridiculing Kumar for his claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would face little challenge in the 2019 general elections, Prasad said, "Keep shouting slogans in favour of Narendra Modi ... PM material (Nitish Kumar) has surrendered before him but we will have another face against him (Modi) in 2019."

Prasad also accused Kumar of undermining senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, who, he said, had contributed a lot to making him a "big leader".

Prasad said he has offered Yadav to "come out from there (the JD-U) and join hands with secular parties to protect the country from communal forces".

He, however, clairified that Yadav has not been requested to join the RJD but be part of a country-wide movement against communal forces.