Stung by Nitish Kumar’s “betrayal”, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad on Thursday said, said Mr. Kumar had not only cheated but also stabbed the people of Bihar in the back.
Mr Prasad also said the “script” of Mr. Kumar’s alliance with the BJP was written much earlier and the “match was fixed”.
RJD workers observed Thursday as “betrayal day and held protests at several places across the State.
“Nitish Kumar has not only cheated but stabbed in the back the people of Bihar and the mandate given to him to fight against the BJP ... mid-way he joined hands with the communal forces…The match was fixed,” Mr. Prasad told journalists in Ranchi where he had appeared before a special CBI court in connection with a fodder scam case.
He further said, “It [the resignation] was all part of their (Nitish Kumar and the BJP) strategy to attack me and my family members on false corruption charges.”
The RJD chief also waved a sheaf of papers and said, “Nitish Kumar himself is a murder accused and the court has taken cognizance of it”.
However, senior JD(U) leaders Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh and R.C.P. Singh later told journalists in Patna that, “Lalu Prasad has a habit of twisting facts…the murder in which Nitish Kumar was named had taken place when Lalu Prasad was the chief minister in 1991…After investigation, it was found that Nitsh Kumar was innocent and his name was even omitted from the case.”
Quotes statements
Mr Prasad said, “It was Nitish Kumar who had said in the State assembly that he would prefer to be destroyed than join hands with the BJP again... mitti mein mil jayenge, lekin BJP se ab nahi milenge , said Nitish Kumar and its in the proceedings of the House.” “I always had supported Nitish as my younger brother…but, he turned out Bhashmasur, ” Mr Prasad added.
“ Tejaswi to ek bahana tha. Unko BJP ke god mein jana tha (Tejaswi was just an excuse, he [Nitish Kumar] had to return to the BJP’s embrace),” he said. But the people of Bihar are politically very conscious and they were watching all this, the RJD chief said. “We’ll also go to them and apprise them about how Nitish Kumar has betrayed their mandate,” he said.
On the role of the Bihar Governor in not inviting the RJD as the largest party with 80 MLAs, to first stake claim to form the government, Mr Prasad said he would appeal in the Supreme Court against the decision.
Tejaswi tweets
Former Deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav tweeted: “I entered government with a clean slate with a keen desire of writing a positive story for people of Bihar, only to find an opportunist rival!”
