Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Wednesday attacked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, accusing him of backstabbing the NDA by snapping ties and said it was in line with his habit of “deceit” to grab power.
“Nitish Kumar betrayed George Fernandes, who gave him (Kumar) a national identity, and more recently, Jitan Ram Manjhi. Where is George Fernandes today? He has been forced to spend ‘gumnaami ki <g data-gr-id="36">zindagi</g>’ (a life of obscurity)?” he said. Shah said the BJP had given a leadership role to Kumar in the NDA and assisted him throughout “even at the cost of insult to party workers” to prevent <g data-gr-id="43">return</g> of ‘jungle raj’ in Bihar. He added: “But, in tune with his behaviour he stabbed the BJP in the back and joined hands with Lalu Prasad for the sake of power.”
Shah also targeted RJD supremo Lalu Prasad for trying to create a controversy over reservations for <g data-gr-id="40">backward</g> castes and <g data-gr-id="37">dalits</g> and asserted that the BJP was not against quota for them. Shah accused him of speaking a “blatant lie” and insisted his party always supported the reservation policy and wanted no change.
“Lalu Prasad is nowadays talking about <g data-gr-id="34">reservation</g> for backwards and <g data-gr-id="38">dalits</g> and accusing the BJP of intending to end reservation which is not true. BJP has been in favour of reservation for backwards and <g data-gr-id="39">dalits</g> since the promulgation of Constitution and is not in favour of any review,” he said.
The BJP chief accused Prasad of harping on the issue to “divert the attention of voters from the issue of jungle raj.”
“Nitish and Lalu are very shrewd politicians. They know their defeat and BJP’s victory is certain if <g data-gr-id="47">election</g> is fought on the agenda of development. Lalu has come up with a new gimmick that if a BJP government is formed, it will remove reservation. I want to say that he is telling a blatant lie. BJP is committed to <g data-gr-id="45">reservation</g> and wants no change in it. Our workers should go to every house and tell people so. Lalu and Nitish want to misguide people and lead them away from the real issues. BJP is committed to the empowerment of the <g data-gr-id="41">dalits</g> and backwards,” Shah said.
Addressing a BJP workers’ conference at Begusarai, about 100km from Patna, the BJP chief said the Narendra Modi government attached great importance to national security, which will never be compromised. “Rahul Baba – no one now dares to <g data-gr-id="42">buthcher</g> our soldiers. If anybody engages in a misadventure, we enter Burma’s borders and our forces take them out, that’s what Narendra Modi’s government is all about.”