Janata Dal (United) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh on Friday rubbished media reports about Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying that he has a “soft corner for Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP]”.
Mr. Singh said there is no question of “looking back” at the BJP and the media has presented distorted remarks. He stressed that personal and political relations are separate. On Thursday, Mr. Kumar during a convocation event of Mahatma Gandhi Central University in Motihari, reportedly said that as long as he was alive, his friendship with BJP leaders would remain.
“Sushil Modi ji is our friend. We always say this. So will he join JD(U)? Nitish ji was not talking about the BJP, he was talking about personal [relationships]. Everything is the media’s agenda. Why will Nitish ji go with the BJP? We will not even look towards the BJP. On the stage, may be he spoke about his personal relationships with BJP leaders. Personal relationships and politics are different,” Mr. Singh said.
Mr. Singh termed the BJP as a “party of cheaters” and accused it of stabbing Mr. Kumar during the 2020 Assembly election. Without naming former JD(U) leader R.C.P. Singh, he also alleged that the BJP “conspired’ with one of JD(U) leaders.
“Did Nitish ji speak on the stage that he will go with BJP? He has one goal and that is to create a BJP-free nation in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Ever since Nitish ji made an alliance with Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav on August 9, 2022, they are being continuously harassed by the ED [Enforcement Directorate] and CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation]. Nitish ji is not going to be afraid of anyone,“ Mr. Singh said.
Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi came down heavily on Mr. Singh for defending Mr. Kumar’s remarks. Mr. Modi said that it was Mr. Kumar, not the BJP, who backstabbed and betrayed the mandate. He also said that BJP does not need him anymore.
“Despite JD(U) getting 44 seats and BJP getting more than 75 seats in the 2020 Assembly election, we made Nitish Kumar the Chief Minister to keep our pre-poll promise. Is it a stab in the back?” Mr. Modi said.
Sharing figures from past Assembly elections, Mr. Modi said that Mr. Kumar’s support has been on a continuous decline, as the JD(U) got 115 seats in 2010, 75 in 2015, and 44 in 2020.
“If Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not campaigned for JD(U), the party would have fared worse. Instead of being grateful, Lalan Singh is cursing the Prime Minister and BJP every day. People know who stabbed whom. Has Nitish Kumar become so weak that Chirag Paswan can restrict his party to 44 seats? JD(U) should watch its own ground before accusing others,“ Mr. Modi added.
He further said that Upendra Kushwaha, R.C.P. Singh, Jitan Ram Manjhi and several other leaders have left JD(U) for the BJP, but no one has left the BJP till now.
Mr. Modi said that Mr. Kumar’s party is “on the verge of disintegrating” and the BJP does not require him.
