Nitish Kumar mocks PM Modi, but then throws himself out of PM race

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on September 2, 2022 took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “polarization to save the corrupt”, which he also tried to stick to, citing his own stint at the Center under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. demanded.

Mr Kumar, whose “national role” has become the subject of much speculation since his break with the BJP last month, though he also sought to exclude himself for the fifteenth time from the race for the prime minister’s post.

“Please leave such questions ( leave all these things),” was Mr Kumar’s reply, when journalists approached him with questions at his JD(U) state headquarters, where huge posters have been put up claiming that the party’s real leaders are to be replicated across the country. Were ready what they have achieved in Bihar.

, Seen in the state, will be seen in the country“(It has been seen in the state, now it will be seen across the country) was one of the many open slogans on which these posters are inscribed.

Kumar, who arrived a few hours before the state executive office bearers’ meeting, said he had come to see the preparations for the national executive meeting to be held on Saturday and the national council a day later.

“Delegates will come from all over the country. Today I just came to see things. I’ll be here full time for the next two days,” declared the septuagenarian, who has been demonstrating of late that he still has a lot in his stomach. by the fire.

Earlier, he was asked elsewhere whether he felt Mr Modi’s scathing remarks at a function in Kerala was a bugle for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, in which the BJP could hardly find any ally against various regional parties. Looking forward to standing with you. His side

“When he is the prime minister, he can go anywhere. But don’t you know the political situation in Kerala,” Kumar said, referring to the BJP’s repeated failures to make a mark in the left-ruled state. Referring to. Even the number two slot has not been snatched from the Congress.

Incidentally, both the Left and the Congress are part of the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance) government in Bihar.

Regarding Mr Modi’s scathing remarks a day after Mr Kumar’s much-publicized meeting with his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekhar Rao, the Bihar Chief Minister said, “I have got the opportunity to work under the venerable Atal Bihari Vajpayee. I care more. No. What do those who rule at the Center have to say now?

The statement is being treated as an assertion by Mr. Kumar that he had been in national politics since the late 1990s, a few years after Mr. Modi’s rise when he was later sent to head the government from Delhi. went. Factionalism Gujarat.

Dismissing Mr. Modi’s claim that opposition parties are complicit in the Centre’s action against corruption, Mr. Kumar also tried to remind the former that in many states the BJP has forged alliances with those who have But he had earlier accused him of wrongdoing.

“Who is saving the corrupt? Will anyone ever think of doing this? However, in different states, there are many developments of people moving from here to there, which everyone knows about but which I can’t say much about. I want to,” the shrewd politician who is considered a master in the art of conjecture.

Mr Kumar spoke on corruption on the sidelines of a function where his deputy Tejashwi Yadav was also present and the RJD leader, who finds himself and family members in several legal battles, opted to go further.

“The BJP has around 1,000 MLAs across the country and over 300 Members of Parliament. No one has faced raids by the central probe agency. Have they been anointed with milk? ( Are they washed with milk?),” the youth leader asked.

When asked what is the reason behind such a scenario, Mr. Yadav said, “Obviously, party leaders are being protected by someone. We have seen a lot of people against whom there are allegations of corruption.” As soon as they join the BJP or form an alliance with them, they disappear.”