Nitish’s ‘snake and sandalwood’ tweet creates flutter

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s tweet likening himself to ‘chandan’ (sandalwood), which remains unaffected despite snakes wrapping themselves around it, has created a flutter in poll-bound Bihar as it is being seen as directed against his ally Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.

One @SunilVChandak posed a question to Kumar on his programme “Ask Nitish” on Twitter on July 20 – “#AskNitish if you win with Laluji and the numbers are significant, how you will be able to give good development-ordinated government?” 

In reply, Kumar had tweeted, “Bihar’s development is my sole agenda. Jo Rahim <g data-gr-id="20">uttam</g> <g data-gr-id="21">prakriti</g>, ka <g data-gr-id="22">kari</g> <g data-gr-id="23">sakat</g> <g data-gr-id="24">kusang</g>. Chandan <g data-gr-id="25">vish</g> <g data-gr-id="26">vyapat</g> <g data-gr-id="27">nahi</g>, <g data-gr-id="28">lipte</g> <g data-gr-id="29">rahat</g> <g data-gr-id="30">bhujang</g> (<g data-gr-id="35">Bad</g> company doesn’t affect a virtuous man, as the sandalwood tree is not affected by snakes who wriggle around it).” 

Kumar’s comments quoting <g data-gr-id="37">16th century</g> poet Rahim were seen as a veiled attack on Yadav, with whose party Kumar’s JD(U) has entered into an uneasy coalition.

When media asked Yadav about the tweet, the RJD chief said though he did not know the facts, it was probably directed against the BJP. “Nitish Kumar should clarify about his tweet,” he said.

Interestingly, when Kumar was declared the CM candidate of the ‘secular alliance’ last month, Yadav had said he was ready to drink “poison” to crush the “cobra” of communalism in Bihar, which was seen as reflecting his discomfort at the JD(U) leader <g data-gr-id="19">helming</g> the coalition.