Breaking his long silence, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Saturday said in a calculated self-explanation that he would flag off BJP leader L.K. Advani’s anti-corruption yatra. The JD(U) stalwart then attacked the UPA government and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the 2G spectrum scam.
“Advaniji’s yatra is a campaign against corruption and it is beginning from JP’s village in Bihar. It is a matter of happiness for us (JD-U). A welcome Advanijee. We have initiated several innovative measures in Bihar to curb corruption and the Centre is imitating some of them,” said Mr Kumar to journalists. He was visibly more composed and pensive while publicly endorsing Mr Advani’s yatra for the first time than when he next spoke with spontaneity about his own scheduled yatra of Bihar.
Mr Kumar said he agreed to flag off Advani’s rath yatra when BJP national president Nitin Gadkari requested him over phone three days back. With this public statement, Mr Kumar ended speculations in Bihar about a growing trust deficit between the state’s two ruling NDA allies JD(U) and BJP. State BJP chief C.P. Thakur described Mr Kumar’s readiness to participate in Mr Advani’s yatra as a “step towards further strengthening of the bonds” between the allies. Criticising the UPA government over further revelations in connections with the 2G scam, Mr Kumar asked PM to clarify his position on the controversial spectrum allocations.
“The Congress seems to be witnessing a civil war now. All the compromises done by the UPA government (in the spectrum allocations) are coming up before the people layer by layer,” he said.
Mr Kumar said his “Seva Yatra” (service tour) of Bihar, slated to begin from West Champaran district in November first week, would be an exhaustive attempt to seek the people’s feedback about the implementation of the Right to Public Service Act, 2011, and other measures to improve the people’s living standards.