Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s proposed public meeting in Varanasi – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency – on December 24 stirred a war of words between the BJP and the JD(U) leaders on Wednesday. While senior State BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi called Mr. Kumar a “fused bulb”, JD(U) leader Jama Khan retorted saying the BJP has become “jittery” over Mr. Kumar’s visit.
Mr. Kumar is scheduled to address a public meeting in the Rohaniya Assembly segment of Varanasi on December 24, in the run-up to the upcoming Lok Sabha election in 2024.
Poll challenge
While challenging the JD(U) veteran to contest against PM Modi from Varanasi, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi said: “Nitish Kumar is a fused bulb that can only flicker now and cannot be brightly lit.”
“Nitish Kumar’s influence is limited only to the Bihar. If he has guts, he should fight the parliamentary election against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi next year. Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi Chief Minister) too had come to contest against him but had fled,” said Mr. Sushil Kumar Modi.
‘Change in the air’
Countering him, ruling JD(U) leader and Mr. Kumar’s ministerial colleague Jama Khan said the BJP had become “jittery over Nitish Kumar’s public meeting in Varanasi in which lakhs and lakhs of people are going to participate”.
Speaking to mediapersons in Patna, Mr. Khan, who is the Minority Affairs Minister in Bihar, claimed: “There is a wave of change in the air. The change will happen in the country as the BJP has been telling only lies. The Modi-led government has only divided society and the working style of the BJP has been anti-people.”
Mr. Khan further said that the JD(U) has assigned leaders of the party from neighbouring districts of Varanasi in Bihar such as Buxar, Rohtas and Kaimur to ensure the “success of Mr. Kumar’s public meeting”. “We expect that four-five lakh people will turn up for the public meeting of our leader Nitish Kumar in Varanasi,” he said. “Varanasi is a place where both the temple bell rings and the sound of azan comes from the adjoining mosque. The city of Varanasi is also known for its Ganga-Jamuni tehjeeb (religious harmony),” he said.
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh said the Bihar Chief Minister had lost all “credibility and has no political relevance these days”. “He (Nitish Kumar) lost his role in public life too, the day he insulted women in the Bihar Assembly [with his population control remark],” Mr. Singh said.
But the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), a ruling ally of the JD(U) in the State, came to Mr. Kumar’s defence. “Is Nitish Kumar doing any crime by going to Varanasi? Is Mr. Modi the owner of Varanasi?” asked RJD leader and party’s Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha. “Any common man of the country can go to Varanasi,” he said, while adding: “There is no guarantee that Narendra Modi will be elected from Varanasi next time.”
Continuing his attack on Mr. Kumar, Mr. Sushil Modi said: “Nitish Kumar is going to Varanasi not on his own but on the invitation of Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav. Mr. Kumar could not ensure the victory of even one JD(U) candidate in the recently held Madhya Pradesh Assembly election”. Mr. Kumar-led JD(U) had fielded candidates on nine seats in Madhya Pradesh but all of them lost.
“Neither the JD(U) or its ruling ally RJD leaders are talking of it,” senior State BJP leader Bhim Singh said.
