Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments — that "action on the corrupt is creating a new polarisation in politics" — but avoided direct answers about his own national ambitions. Yet, posters at his party office have been saying a lot in one-liners.
"Pradesh mein dikha, desh mein dikhega" (It's been seen in the state, now will be seen across the country) is one of the many open-ended slogans on the posters at the JDU headquarters, where a national meet of the party is scheduled. Another poster said, "Jumla nahin, haqiqat (Not just words, but reality)," in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promises.
Nitish Kumar's likely national role as an Opposition candidate for the PM's post is a matter of much speculation since his breakup with the BJP last month.
Nitish Kumar at the JDU office ahead of a national meet.
But, speaking to reporters today, he again sought to rule himself out from the race. "Please leave aside such questions," was his reply when journalists approached him with queries at the party office. Mr Kumar, who arrived barely a few hours ahead of a meeting of state executive office-bearers, said he had come to see preparations for the national executive meeting scheduled on Saturday and the national council a day later.
Earlier, he was asked elsewhere as to whether he thought PM Modi's acerbic remark at a function in Kerala was tantamount to sounding the bugle for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When he is the Prime Minister, he can go anywhere. But don't you know the political situation in Kerala," Mr Kumar said with a chuckle, referring to the BJP's repeated failures to make a mark in the Left-ruled state where it has not even been able to snatch the Number 2 slot from the Congress. Incidentally, both the Left and the Congress are part of the ruling 'Mahagathbandhan' (Grand Alliance) government in Bihar.
About the PM's remark that came a day after Kumar's much publicised meeting with his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhara Rao, the Bihar leader said, "I have had an opportunity to work under respected Atal Bihari Vajpayee. I do not care much for what those ruling the Centre now have to say." The statement is being construed as an assertion that he'd been in national politics, even a union minister, since the late 1990s, before Narendra Modi's rise.
Mr Kumar also sought to remind the PM that in many states the BJP has ended up aligning with those whom it previously accused of wrongdoings. "Who is shielding the corrupt? Would anybody ever think of doing so? There are, however, many developments in various states, of people going from here to there, which all know but about which I do not wish to say much."
Mr Kumar spoke on corruption on the sidelines of a function where his deputy, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, was also present. The RJD leader, who finds himself and family members in many legal wrangles, chose to be more upfront.
"The BJP has about 1,000 MLAs across the country and more than 300 MPs. None has faced a raid by a central investigating agency. Have they been consecrated with milk? (Kya ye doodh ke dhule hue hain?)," he said.
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