With Nitish Kumar, But Resolve To Form Own Government Intact: Bihar BJP Chief

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Thursday said that the BJP has not given up its resolve to form its own government in the state by accepting Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar as the chief minister.

Mr Choudhary, who is also the state BJP president, made a statement to the effect here at an auditorium packed with party workers and senior leaders.

"It was a tough call for us. Lots of discussions took place at the national and the state levels, and finally, a decision was taken to drive out of power the RJD, which had once brought 'jungle raj' to Bihar," said Mr Choudhary, referring to the dramatic realignment the state witnessed a fortnight ago.

"We honour whichever alliance we are a part of, as long as it survives. We will do the same to Nitish Kumar whom the 'INDI Alliance' people had enticed with the promise of prime ministership but who realised in good time that it was a grouping merely formed to protect the corrupt," alleged the BJP leader.

"But remember there is no going back on our pledge to form our own government in Bihar one day," he added.

Mr Choudhary, who joined the BJP less than a decade ago, said it is an organisation that patiently works at attaining its stated objectives.

"Generations passed since Syama Prasad Mukherjee first raised his voice against Article 370. When Narendra Modi won an absolute majority, it (Article 370) was consigned to the waste bin of history. Same with Ayodhya. For years, detractors mocked our chants of 'mandir wahin banayenge' (Ram temple will be built at the site) with the barb - 'tareekh nahin batayenge' (we will not say by when construction would be complete)," he said.

The deputy chief minister also asserted that, while sharing power in the state, the BJP would ensure a crackdown on the "liquor mafia, land mafia and sand-mining mafia".

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)