Shah targets Nitish, alleges Opposition leaders’ role in ₹20L-cr scam

Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday alleged Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had shunned all political principles and accused Opposition parties of being involved in scams worth ₹20 lakh crore.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday alleged Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had shunned all political principles and accused Opposition parties, which recently held a joint meeting in Patna , of being involved in scams worth ₹20 lakh crore.

Union home minister Amit Shah. (ANI)

Shah, who arrived for a day’s visit to Patna, also said that all attempts of the Congress to project Rahul Gandhi as a mass leader had failed.

Addressing a mega rally in Lakhisarai, Shah referred to Kumar – a former ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – as paltu babu (one who changes stances) and accused him of fooling his current ally and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief, Lalu Prasad. Kumar was the host of the opposition meeting in Patna.

The Union minister also took a dig at a meeting of Opposition parties in Patna on June 23.

“These parties are the ones who indulged in corruption and scams worth over ₹20 lakh crore from 2004-2014… Bihar will give a befitting reply to the corrupt leaders... leaders who ditched the NDA will be punished by voters,” he said.

The Union home minister targeted Kumar for questioning the work done by the Centre in the past nine years.

“Paltu babu Nitish Kumar was asking what had been done (by the Centre in nine years). At least have some regard for those with whom you have shared power and because of whom, you became the chief minister. A lot of work was done by Prime Minister Modi across the country in these nine years,” he said.

In August last year, Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) broke its alliance with the BJP to re-align with the RJD.

Since then, the BJP has often called Nitish ‘paltu babu’, accusing him of “backstabbing” the party and blaming his prime ministerial ambition for his decision.

Shah attacked Kumar for joining hands with a “party of scamsters”.

“You became the chief minister while opposing Lalu Prasad’s animal husbandry scam. Can a leader, who changes his house repeatedly be trusted? Should the reigns of Bihar be given in the hands of such a man? Nitish always changes his alliance partners and is simply misleading Lalu ji. He is not trustworthy… He has shunned all political principles,” he said.

Prasad, a former chief minister, was convicted and sentenced in a number of fodder scam cases. He is currently out on bail and is likely to play a key role in bringing opposition parties together ahead of the 2024 polls.

Shah also said that all attempts of the Congress to project Rahul Gandhi as a mass leader had “failed”.

Hitting back at Shah, JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan said: “He can only tell lies. All work has only been done by the state. The BJP is nervous. They are not going to win more than 100 Lok Sabha seats this time.”

JD(U) chief state spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar took strong exception to Shah’s remarks on Kumar. “It is not appropriate for a home minister to make such disparaging remarks against an elected chief minister. I am forced to say that Shah is himself an expert in linguistic hatred and language corruption.”

The Congress dubbed Shah’s visit as an effort to spread hatred. “Shah’s visit was nothing but an effort to spread hatred. The truth is that the presence of PM Modi is enough to incite hatred and spread poison in society. When Manipur is burning, the home minister is making rounds of Bihar,” Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Akhilesh Prasad Singh said.