‘You took this oath as well...’: Tejashwi Yadav's swipe at Nitish Kumar over 'pledge' against liquor consumption

The RJD leader shared a media clipping from 2015 of the Bihar CM saying that he would never join hands with the BJP, the current ally of Kumar's JD(U).

On a day when people of Bihar are likely to take a ‘pledge’ against alcohol consumption, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav took a swipe at chief minister Nitish Kumar, reminding him of another ‘pledge’ that the latter took in 2015, of not joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“You took this oath as well,” Yadav’s tweet, roughly translated from Hindi read. Bihar’s Leader of opposition shared with his tweet a media clipping from March 2015, which quoted the Janata Dal (United) leader as saying that he would die but not ally with the BJP again.

Kumar’s JD(U) exited the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2013. In the 2015 Bihar assembly elections, arch-rivals JD(U) and RJD came together to form the Mahagathbandhan, and defeated the NDA. While Nitish Kumar became the alliance’s chief minister, Tejashwi Yadav was appointed as the deputy CM.

However, in 2017, the alliance crumbled over corruption allegations against the RJD leader. Nitish once again joined hands with the BJP, thus continuing in his chair. Then, in last year’s assembly polls, the Kumar-led NDA registered a narrow win over the Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan.

Now on opposite sides, the two politicians have taken frequent jibes at each other. Friday’s tweet by Yadav comes in the backdrop of several hooch tragedies in Bihar in recent days, in which more than three dozen people have lost their lives. The incidents took place despite a ban on consumption of alcohol in the state, which came into effect on April 1, 2016, when the Mahagathbandhan was in power.

Earlier this month, the chief minister ruled out a review of the liquor law, saying that he hardly cares about what others says about the law.