Nitish Kumar will lead an anti-BJP coalition for this year's Bihar Assembly elections, said Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today, thanking Lalu Prasad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal for nominating Mr Kumar to be the alliance's presumptive chief minister. Mulayam Singh's announcement ended days of speculation that the proposed alliance between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) and Lalu Prasad's RJD in the state would be a non-starter, as senior leaders of both parties made tough public statements on the issue of choosing a chief ministerial candidate.