PM Modi vs Nitish Kumar: Gloves Come Off in a 'DNA' Slugfest

PM Modi alleged that Nitish Kumar - who snapped ties with the BJP two years ago because of his legendary rivalry with him - practices "political untouchability," recalling that he had once refused to offer him dinner. "There seems to be some problem in his DNA because the DNA of democracy is not like that. In democracy, you give respect even to your political rivals."

In his riposte Nitish Kumar said PM Modi had insulted all Biharis. "The Prime Minister said there is a problem in my DNA. I'm a son of Bihar, so it is the same DNA as the people of Bihar... I leave it to the people of Bihar how they judge a person who maligns their DNA," he tweeted.

In his speech PM Modi also said, "I can understand some people don't like other people's faces. I can understand political differences. But if I was so bad,  you should have come and slapped me, even strangled me. But you throttled the development of Bihar because of your problems with one man."

The PM referred repeatedly to Nitish Kumar having insisted on keeping him away from election campaigns in Bihar when their parties were partners for many years, saying to roars of approval from the 1.5 lakhs-strong crowd, "Don't worry, I am here now."

There were digs in his speech at Mr Kumar's scorn of social media in the past and his late debut on Twitter and also the chief minister's tweet this morning when he said, "We're grateful that after 14 months Modiji finds time to visit Bihar."

He dismissed as "lies" Mr Kumar's allegation that central policies would diminish funds for the state. "I have inaugurated projects worth crores today. Bihar is set to get 3.45 lakh crore rupees in various schemes," he said.

He also reiterated his promise for a mega package of more than 50,000 crore for Bihar saying, "I will come back to you after Parliament is over and will tell you how big an economic package I will give you."

There were swipes in the PM's speech at Nitish Kumar's choice of new partners after his divorce from the BJP. The CM, he alleged was taking Bihar back to "Jungle raj," elucidating thus:  "Lalu's RJD means " Rojana Jungleraj ka Darr (fearing jungle raj everyday)."

The Prime Minister was in Bihar to power up his party's campaign for the Assembly elections due by October. In Patna, he inaugurated projects and flagged off trains at an official function where he shared stage with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whom the BJP hopes to unseat.

In Bihar, the BJP takes on the combined might of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United and Lalu Yadav's RJD in what is billed as the most crucial election since last year's Lok Sabha polls. The Congress and its allies have also joined hands with Nitish and Lalu.