Patna/New Delhi:
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has declined to accept Opposition leader Lalu Yadav’s olive branch of sorts. There is no going back, Mr Kumar indicated when asked about Mr Yadav’s comment that his “doors are open”.
Mr Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), was once a partner in the Grand Alliance comprising Mr Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and others. The JD(U) chief left the grouping due to differences and rejoined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
“Those who were in power before us… did they do anything? People used to fear stepping out of their homes after sunset. I had by mistake (“galti se“) aligned with them a couple of times,” Mr Kumar told reporters.
“What was the condition of women back then? Today, you can see these self-help groups, which we gave the name Jivika. The Centre replicated our model and called it Ajivika. Did you see such confident rural women earlier?” the Chief Minister said.
Mr Yadav, a former chief minister himself, made the comments about “keeping doors open” days after BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah appeared to project Mr Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate for the assembly election due in less than a year.
Bihar BJP leaders have also said Mr Kumar will be the face of the NDA in the assembly election.
The BJP fell short of a majority in the Lok Sabha election earlier this year. The party depends on allies such as the JD(U) and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP to stay in power in the centre.
Mr Kumar was in Muzaffarpur to lay the foundation stone of a Rs 450-crore scheme when he made the comments on Mr Yadav’s cryptic offer.
The RJD had in the past said it would never work with Mr Kumar again.
“Our door is closed for Nitish Kumar forever. We do not need him. There is nothing left in Nitish now. The people of Bihar trust me, and this time we will form the government on our own,” Tejashwi Yadav, the son of the RJD chief, had said.
