Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Friday said Nitish Kumar’s decision to walk out of the NDA coalition and form the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance) government in the state was a “slap on the BJP’s face”. The statement came after the RJD leader met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other Opposition leaders in Delhi and discussed the developments in the state and the ongoing political situation in the country.
Yadav’s Delhi visit holds significance as RJD supremo Lalu Prasad is in the national capital and the finalization of the names of ministers is likely to be discussed between the two.
Speaking to the media outside 10 Janpath, the RJD leader said, “After all the developments in Bihar, I came to Delhi last night. I met the primary leadership in Delhi – Sitaram Yechury, D Raja, Sonia Gandhi. Everyone congratulated us, welcomed Nitish Kumar’s government. This government will run strongly because this government is a government for the poor…it is the government of the people. The decision by Nitish Kumar at the right time, you can say, is a slap on the BJP’s face.”
Yadav said all parties have joined hands against the BJP in the Bihar assembly and added “now this is going to be replicated across the whole country”.
Stepping up attack on the BJP, he accused the saffron party of working to finish regional parties.
“We saw all the drama by BJP that went down in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand – scare those who fear, buy those who will sell. Our constitutional institutions – Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or Income Tax (Department) – are being ruined one by one. Their condition is worse than a police station…Who are they (BJP) trying to scare? Biharis won’t be scared. We are ‘tikaau’, not ‘bikaau’. We blamed Nitish Ji and vice versa, but we are from the same home with socialist beliefs. Fights happen in every household, but we welcome Nitish Ji’s decision looking at country’s situation,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The RJD leader also mentioned that regional parties are mostly of backwards and Dalits and the BJP wants to finish such parties. “You wanted to finish Nitish Kumar, you created division in Ram Vilas Paswan ji’s party. If regional parties are finished, Opposition will be finished, democracy will be finished. If democracy is finished, the country will be run in a dictatorial manner,” he said.
The cabinet, which at present comprises only Nitish Kumar and Yadav as his deputy, is due for expansion early next week.
Earlier, he met CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja in Delhi and reportedly discussed the developments in Bihar and future course of action. After the meeting, Tejashwi said in a tweet that he met the two Left leaders and had a positive discussion on the current social, economic and political scenario prevailing in the country and Bihar.
भारतीय कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी (मार्क्सवादी) के महासचिव श्री सीताराम येचुरी जी एवं भारतीय कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी के महासचिव श्री डी राजा जी से मिलकर देश और राज्य की वर्तमान सामाजिक, आर्थिक व राजनीतिक परिस्थितियों पर सकारात्मक चर्चा हुई। लोकतंत्र की जननी बिहार ने फिर देश को दिशा दिखाई है। pic.twitter.com/YDxT27R5NB
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) August 12, 2022
The expansion would be followed, later this month, by a special session of the assembly when the new government will prove its majority on the floor. The RJD leader served as deputy chief minister of Bihar from 2015 to 2017.
Kumar and Yadav had taken oath on Wednesday, a day after the JD(U) snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD, the Congress and some other parties to form a ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government in Bihar.
With inputs from News18, PTI
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