The politically rare and enviable opportunity of seeing two leaders from Bihar’s two main Opposition parties joining the ruling JD(U) on a single day gave chief minister Nitish Kumar a suitable occasion to chastise the Opposition parties on Sunday.
After inducting LJP leader Sabir Ali, who resigned as the party’s Rajya Sabha member in protest earlier this month, and senior RJD leader Chitta Ranjan Yadav into the JD(U), Mr Kumar advised Bihar’s vociferous Opposition leaders to focus on the state. The JD(U) strongman then trained his guns on arch rival and RJD boss Lalu Prasad Yadav, calling him an “NRI” politician for staying away from Bihar for a long time.
Unfazed by growing allegations that he might be on a poaching spree to weaken the already declining Opposition parties in Bihar, Mr Kumar said universal praise for the good governance provided by his JD(U)-BJP government was attracting wider support and participation. “Opposition or no opposition, Bihar’s people have reposed their faith in the NDA for taking forward the state’s development process, and I am working to live up to their expectations,” he said.
Both Mr Ali and Mr Yadav praised Mr Kumar’s leadership and dedication to Bihar in glowing words and said they joined the JD(U) in order to contribute to the state’s progress. The two leaders said their now former parties had lost both ideologies and support bases.
“The Opposition leaders should focus on Bihar. They have the full right to highlight (the state government’s) irregularities, if any, before the people, but they should not leave the state,” said Mr Kumar, apparently referring to the facts that the RJD chief has been in Delhi for the past several months and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan organised his party’s national convention in Gujarat recently.
Upset by the Opposition parties terming his Seva Yatra as “picnic tour,” Mr Kumar asked them to improve their language and asserted that his ongoing yatra greatly helped him in reviewing the implementation of development schemes and seeking public feedback.
RJD leader and RS member Ram Kripal Yadav described the defection of Mr Ali and Mr Yadav as “acts of treachery” that would not be forgiven by Bihar’s people.