Salute Naidu's courage: RJD to Nitish on spl status

Patna: The opposition RJD in Bihar on Thursday challenged CM Nitish Kumar to take a cue from his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu and "speak up" on the issue of special status for the state.

Accusing Kumar of remaining silent on issues such as vandalism of statues and alleged insult to women leaders like Mayawati and Renuka Chowdhury, the opposition party has warned the government of launching an agitation, if the chief minister failed to raise his voice on the issue of special status.

"We salute Chandrababu Naidu for showing the courage to stick to the stand he took on the issue of special status for AP. The effect of creation of Telangana out of AP is similar to the impact carving out of Jharkhand had on Bihar. But there appears to be a big difference between the chief ministers of the two states", RJD national spokesman Manoj Jha told reporters here. Notably, in the past, Kumar, too, had been demanding a special status for Bihar and even made it his poll plank in the state elections.

Jha, who blamed the chief minister of not being consistent between his words and deeds, said he is living in the "mortal fear of PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah". "Ever since Kumar betrayed the mandate of 2015 Assembly polls, ditched the RJD-Congress combine and joined the NDA, he has been living in mortal fear of PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah", Jha alleged.

Not ready to accept the chief minister's silence on the vital issue of "special status", Jha has warned the government of his party taking to the streets for the demand of special status. "He has kept mum on vandalisation of statues of Periyar and Lenin. He claims to support women's empowerment, but when disparaging remarks were made against BSP supremo Mayawati some time ago and RS member Renuka Chowdhury recently, he did not utter a word in condemnation."