Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday attacked arch-rival and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on a wide range of issues, describing him as politically unreliable and predicting that the RJD-LJP alliance had only defeat in store for itself in Bihar’s upcoming Assembly polls.
While a visibly relaxed Kumar enjoyed countering the recent taunts at him by Mr Yadav and repeated his charge that Mr Yadav and the Congress had secret links, the JD(U) stalwart declined to comment on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement likening the RSS with Simi. JD(U) national president Sharad Yadav, who reached Patna to join the party’s campaign, however, said Gandhi’s statement was “useless because there are other serious issues calling for attention”.
The JD(U) would carry on “the same arrangement as in the past” with its ally BJP, Kumar told reporters at the party headquarters in Patna. “There should not be any misimpression over this. Leaders of both the parties would campaign jointly as before and try to address as many public meetings as possible,” he said. Manifestos of the two allies, he added, would be separately published like earlier.
Criticising Yadav for his reported statement that the RJD-LJP alliance, if it formed a government, would give Bihar’s schoolchildren motorcycles in place of the bicycles provided to girl students by the NDA government, Mr Kumar said, “When the students would ask for petrol to ride them, he (Yadav) will ask them to sell their motorcycles to buy petrol.”
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BJP-JD(U) differences start to show
AGE CORRESPONDENT
new delhi
Oct. 7: Differences seem to have started emerging between the BJP and its alliance partner JD(U) over seat distribution as well as campaigning jointly for the coming Bihar Assembly polls. Sources disclosed that the JD(U) has told BJP that it has reservations about campaigning jointly with some BJP leaders as it may affect its “secular” image. Six phased Assembly polls in the state are beginning from October 21. BJP RS MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is from Bihar, is one such leader on this list as he was the advocate for Ram Lalla Virajman in the Ayodhya title suit, sources disclosed.