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‘We made him CM 5 times but…’: Sushil Modi on Nitish Kumar calling quits with BJP
Nitish Kumar was on Wednesday sworn-in as the chief minister of Bihar for the eight time, a day after breaking alliance with the BJP. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav became his deputy.
Former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday hit out at Nitish Kumar for ‘severing ties’ with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the second time to fulfill his ambitious dreams of becoming the vice president or prime minister. Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar was sworn-in as the chief minister of Bihar for the eight time at the Raj Bhavan in Patna. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav took oath as the deputy chief minister.
“BJP has never betrayed anyone. We made Nitish Kumar the Bihar CM, five times. RJD made him the CM twice, we did that five times. We had a relationship for 17 years. But you severed ties (with us) twice,” Modi said, addressing a press conference ahead of the oath taking ceremony of the Bihar leaders.
He also tweeted after the presser saying Nitish wanted to become the vice president and that many JD(U) leaders approached the BJP with the same.
Modi, who has known Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad for five decades, said that the JD(U) supremo insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of Bihar who had voted for the NDA.
Speaking on allegations that the saffron party was trying to divide the JD(U), the BJP MP said, “They are saying that attempts were being made to break JD(U), an example of Shiv Sena is being given. Shiv Sena was not our ally, it was the ruling party there. You (JDU) were our ally. We have never broken any of our allies.”
“In 2020, we got votes in the name of Narendra Modi. Had we received votes in your (Nitish Kumar's) name we would've crossed 150-175&you wouldn't have won just 43. When it seemed the situation wasn't good, Narendra Modi did 3-4 rallies in one day. 2020 mandate was for Narendra Modi,” Sushil Modi asserted, slamming Nitish for allegedly choosing people who have been charge-sheeted in corruption cases.
“We will like to see how the new Bihar govt functions with Tejashwi as de facto CM; it will fall before next polls,” he said.
Nitish Kumar – the longest-serving chief minister of any Hindi- speaking state – parted ways with the BJP on Tuesday and clinched a new deal in no time with the opposition which, bereft of power and coherence, welcomed him with open arms.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders and workers were staging a sit-in protest in Patna, raising slogans against Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav.
