The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday accused Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar of “backstabbing” the party as well as the people’s mandate, and blamed his prime ministerial ambition for his decision to walk out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to join hands with opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) .
BJP leaders also threw the jibe ‘Paltu (somersault) Chacha (uncle)’ – a term RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav coined after the JD(U) leader snapped ties with the RJD in July 2017 – and rejected claims that their party was undermining him.
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The attack came hours after Nitish called off his alliance with the BJP to once again form the Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance with the RJD and some other parties. He also resigned as chief minister and subsequently met Yadav, following which the duo visited the Governor to stake claim to the government.
Both Nitish and Yadav will take oath as chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively, on Wednesday, the RJD said.
{{/usCountry}}Both Nitish and Yadav will take oath as chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively, on Wednesday, the RJD said.
{{/usCountry}}Addressing a press conference here, BJP state president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal called Nitish a “habitual backstabber” and said he will be “punished” by the people of Bihar.
“We fought the 2020 assembly elections under the NDA. The majority and mandate was to the BJP and JD(U). We won 74 seats but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Amit Shah stuck to their commitment of making Nitish Kumar as chief minister. What JD(U) did today was backstabbing and betraying the people of Bihar and the BJP. He is a habitual back-stabber,” Jaiswal said.
Speaking on similar lines, Union minister Ashwini Choubey said: “He has deceived the people twice. He is suffering from arrogance.”
Jaiswal and Choubey were referring to the time in 2017 when the JD(U), after winning the 2015 assembly polls, had walked out of the Mahagathbandhan and snapped ties with the RJD over allegations of corruption against Yadav and joined the NDA fold.
“Has that issue (corruption) changed now,” Jaiswal asked as he vowed to take the fight to the “people’s court”.
Former Union minister Ravishankar Prasad reminded Nitish how the BJP had helped the latter’s party increase its tally from two lawmakers to 16 lawmakers in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. “We sacrificed our seats for the JD(U),” he said.
Union minister Giriraj Singh said Nitish “is making all kinds of excuses about his so-called problems with the BJP”. “He had prime ministerial ambition in 2013 (ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha elections) and found a reason to separate with the BJP, and the same desire has gotten hold of him again,” he added,
He also mocked Nitish as ‘Paltu Chacha’, noting that Yadav had used the term for him in 2017.
Singh dared Nitish to hold fresh elections and contest independently. “We followed the coalition dharma. I dare him to fight independently. He is a parasite. At times, he sticks to BJP, at times to RJD,” Singh said.
BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi dismissed allegations that the party was making efforts to split the JD(U).“All talk of breaking JD(U) is nonsense,” he said.
Senior BJP leaders said the party had got a hint of Kumar’s actions after he began making “unreasonable” demands before it.
“It’s good riddance anyway. We will fight afresh,” BJP MP Vivek Thakur said.