Jaitley accuses Nitish, Lalu of destroying Lohia’s legacy

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday attacked Bihar Chief  Minister  Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad and accused them of destroying Ram Manohar Lohia’s legacy by aligning with Congress for the Bihar Assembly elections. Jaitley also accused the leaders of failing to develop the state in the last 25 years when they were in power.

Taking a swipe at partners of the grand alliance, Jaitley said these leaders who did politics in the name of socialist Lohia, who always opposed the Congress, today sit in its office for addressing joint press conferences.

“Those who do politics in the name of Lohia, are now visiting AICC for press conferences <g data-gr-id="18">everyday</g>. The legacy of Dr Lohia has been destroyed by these people....,” he said, launching BJP’s youth wing BJYM’s nationwide ‘Panch Kranti Abhiyan’ on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday.

Jaitley also lashed out at Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, saying that she was given the role of a “warm-up speaker” at a recent rally of the grand alliance. 

He also took on Kumar for daring the Prime Minister to debate the issue of development in Bihar, saying the state stood at the 21st position on ease of doing business in a World Bank report, far behind Gujarat which occupied the top slot.