File photo of BJP President, Amit Shah
BJP President Amit Shah took a dig at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to join hands with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, saying that the newly formed alliance between Mr Kumar and Mr Prasad would bring back "jungle raj" in the state.
On Thursday, Mr Shah launched the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) campaign in the state with a rally in Patna. He said, "Does Nitish Kumar want to bring back the jungle raj of the past in Bihar by joining hands with Lalu Prasad whose 15-year rule was remembered for abysmal law and order."
Once bitter critics, Mr Kumar's Janata Dal United (JDU) and Mr Prasad's RJD has joined hands with Congress to form a broad alliance against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which has Union ministers Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) with the BJP.
Mr Shah accused Mr Kumar of backstabbing the mandate given to the NDA by the people of Bihar in 2010. BJP and JDU were alliance partners for 17 years before Mr Kumar decided to break the alliance in 2013 when BJP announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their party's campaign committee chief.
The NDA won the recently held Legislative Council elections where their alliance won 13 out of 24 seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to unveil the roadmap for Bihar's development at a rally in Muzaffarpur on July 25.