Tolerated Nitish Kumar's Hindi push for INDIA bloc, says DMK's Baalu

Janata Dal-United president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said 'only Hindi should be spoken' and the party tolerated it for the sake of cordiality in INDIA bloc, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader TR Baalu said in Chennai on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters after holding seat sharing talks with Congress leaders in Chennai, Baalu, when asked on the exit of Nitish Kumar from the INDIA alliance said it appeared that right from the beginning he had 'some issues' and there would not be any electoral 'damage' due to his move.

To a question about the 'Bihar Chief Minister's statement that nothing worked as per his plan in the INDIA bloc,' Baalu asked: "What did he plan? He did not spell out any plan, he said only Hindi should be spoken and only that (message) remains."

Elaborating, Baalu, a DMK Lok Sabha member and leader of the Parliamentary party said: "He (Nitish Kumar) said everyone should talk in Hindi. We tolerated it. Even then, we kept quiet, as a compromise, for the sake of cordiality in the alliance. It was said that English must not be spoken. This is an ordinary matter (hinting at politics). It is okay."

The DMK leader's reference made was to one of the INDIA bloc meetings in which Nitish Kumar reportedly stressed on use of Hindi.

DMK organising secretary R S Bharathi asked: "What is the guarantee that Nitish Kumar will continue with the BJP alliance till the Parliament election? Let us wait and see."

Dubbing Nitish Kumar as 'fickle minded,' Bharathi said the Bihar Chief Minister's image has 'gone down' among the people.

It was not Nitish Kumar, but DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin who first initiated efforts for bringing together Opposition parties at the national level to take on the Bharatiya Janata PartyJP, Bharathi told reporters.

The INDIA bloc's 'success' in clinching a poll deal in Uttar Pradesh (with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party), the biggest state in the country, will be replicated in other parts of the nation, the DMK leader expressed confidence.

DMK spokesperson J Constandine Ravindran said Nitish Kumar's exit from the INDIA bloc is a "loss" for the BJP and a "gain" for the Opposition alliance.