Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday described hurling of a slipper at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by a youth as ‘wrong’.
“Whoever hurled slipper at CM, it was a wrong thing and cannot be justified at any cost. We cannot support such a person,” Mr. Modi told reporters after his weekly janata darbar at his residence here.
Mr. Modi, who served as Nitish’s deputy during the NDA regime in the State, said the person, who flung slipper at CM, had also come to his janata darbar last week.
There too he tried to create a scene but security personnel caught him, he said.
During his “Janata ke Darbar Mein Mukhya Mantri” programme on Monday, Mr. Kumar was hit with a slipper hurled by a youth protesting against a government advisory on lighting fires after which the offender was arrested.
The photo journalists could not record the incident and Mr. Kumar told reporters the slipper struck him on the right side of his chest. He also showed the imprint of the slipper on his white kurta.
Merger plan
To a query on Nitish Kumar’s merger plan with Ajit Singh’s party Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) to strengthen his position at national level, Mr. Modi said neither JD(U) president Nitish Kumar nor RJD boss Lalu Prasad has stature and political influence beyond Bihar.
“Both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad would meet the same fate in Uttar Pradesh (polls) as Mulayam Singh Yadav faced in Bihar (elections),” he said, adding Mr. Kumar will not be successful in his attempts to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar’s programme in Bihar, Mr. Modi claimed it was sponsored by liquor mafias.
“CPI does not have money to organise such a programme at S. K. Memorial hall. In past 20 years, CPI has not organised any such programme.... The banners, posters and all pomp and show were enough evident to show that this was a sponsored programme,” Mr. Modi said, adding that Kanhaiya spoke against prohibition under the influence of liquor traders. - PTI
