PM hits out at Nitish, asks people to get rid of 'arrogant politician'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi On Tuesday made a blistering attack against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying out of "arrogance" he had returned Rs 5 crore Gujarat had donated for rehabilitation of Kosi flood victims and exhorted people to get rid of such an "arrogant politician".

"Drunk with arrogance and head in the seventh sky, he (Kumar) returned Rs 5 crore donated by people of Gujarat for families of Kosi victims.

"Due to arrogance he forgot the pain of Kosi flood victims and returned the money," Modi said referring to the incident in 2010 when Kumar had returned Rs 5 crore cheque of Gujarat for Kosi flood victims rehabilitation after newspaper advertisements figured his (Modi) photographs as chief minister of Gujarat at that time.

Addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ‘parivartan rally" at Saharsa, headquarter of Kosi division and about 250 km from Patna, Modi lambasted Kumar for joining hands with the Congress, which he said was "responsible" for the death of 'Bihar Gaurav' (pride of Bihar) Jayprakash Narayan.

"Isn't this betrayal with JP or not? Hasn't he (Kumar) given pain to JP's 'atma' (soul) or not?" he said.

In another dig at Kumar for joining hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad, Modi reeled out Bihar police crime figure to claim "Jungle raj has begun to knock Bihar."

The PM's rally was considered politically significant as Kosi region comprising of Saharsa, Madhepura and Supual districts comprise of 13 assembly constituencies.

In 2010, BJP had managed to win the lone Saharsa seat, while 10 were annexed by the Janata Dal-United and two by the RJD. Dominated by Yadav castemen, Saharsa also forms part of Madhepura Lok Sabha constituency from where JD-U national president Sharad Yadav lost this time to Pappu Yadav.

BJP leaders along with prominent leaders of allied parties including union ministers Ramvilas Paswan, former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, union minister and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party leader Upendra Kushwaha, senior party leaders Sushil Kumar Modi, Nand Kishore Yadav and state party chief Mangal Pandey were present at the dais.

The Saharsa meeting was the third in the series of the BJP's 'Parivartan rally' in Bihar before the state election. Two rallies at Muzaffarpur and Gaya had taken place since last month and the fourth and last one is scheduled at Bhagalpur on September 1.

Hitting out at the JD-U for forging ties with Congress for the crucial Bihar assembly poll, Modi said "For the sake of power he (Kumar) has agreed to sit in the lap of the Congress, which had sent Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan to jail and resulted in his death."

Kumar and Lalu Prasad are products of the 1974 JP movement against corruption during the then Congress regime. The PM also criticised Kumar for joining hands with the RJD vand alleged "jungle raj has begun to knock doors in the state."

"Alarm bells have begun to ring ...fear of jungle raj has begun to shake people in the state," he said hitting out at the alliance.

Quoting figures from the Bihar police website, he said while a total of 13,808 heinous crimes were reported in Bihar in January 2015, it increased to 18,510 in six months in June this year which meant an increase of 34 per cent.

There was 46 per cent increase in murder cases in the state from 217 murder cases in January this year to 316 in June and incidents of communal riots rose from 866 in January to 1485 in June this year, he said.

Modi said while he has come to give account of his work to the people, Kumar was keeping away from them. (Kumar) "interacts with journalists in air conditioned room and vomit venom against me."

Making a scathing attack on the Congress, Modi said for 17 years, no prime minister had gone to Nepal to talk to the Himalayan country for permanent solution to floods in Kosi region of Bihar.

"But, I went there, sent assistance to Nepal after earthquake and took up the problem of floods every year in Kosi area due to overflowing rivers of the Himalayan nation," he said and exhorted the people to vote for the National Democratic Alliance to rid the state of the problem.

Photograph: ANI