Even as relations between the Bihar’s ruling JD(U) and the BJP went further downhill on Wednesday after a senior JD(U) minister said both parties might contest the Lok Sabha elections separately, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav heightened his attacks on JD(U) strongman and chief minister Nitish Kumar, holding him “absolutely responsible” for the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Rejecting Mr Kumar’s efforts to put the blame for the 2002 Godhra train burning incident and the following riots in Gujarat on the western state’s government led by BJP icon Narendra Modi, Mr Yadav insisted that Mr Kumar’s “deliberate inaction as railway minister” at the time led to the riots.
In a determined attack on the Bihar chief minister claims to secular credentials, Mr Yadav described the Gujarat riots as a “benchmark test of secularism” in India and dubbed his arch rival in Bihar as a leader devoid of secular values.
“Nitish Kumar was absolutely responsible for the Godhra incident. He cannot escape responsibility by saying the railways is concerned only with matters of safety. As railway minister, Mr Nitish Kumar closed the inquiry into the Sabarmati train burning incident under pressure from Narendra Modi. This triggered the entire Gujarat riots,” Mr Yadav told journalists. He said a new probe, if undertaken, could bring to light Mr Kumar’s alleged role at the time.
Terming Mr Kumar’s unwillingness to accept Mr Modi as the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate as mere gimmickry, Mr Yadav said: “If Nitish Kumar had been truly secular, he should have resigned from the central NDA government soon after the 2002 Gujarat riots. He failed the secularism test by not resigning and then continued his failure by allying with the communal forces to remain in power in Bihar”.