Lalu: Nitish to be CM even if RJD wins more
Lalu: Nitish to be CM even if RJD wins more
The curtain on the keenly-contested Bihar Assembly elections came down on Thursday, with a high turnout of 60 per cent voters coming out to decide the future of 827 candidates, including 58 female candidates, in the fifth and final phase. The state registered an overall figure of 56.80 per cent, the highest in Assembly elections in the state’s history.
Exuding confidence that the Grand Secular Alliance will sweep the elections, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav claimed the alliance would win 190 out of 243 seats in the Assembly. Mr Yadav, who monitored the electoral process the entire day in Patna, clarified that “even if the RJD gets more seats, Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister of Bihar.”
Accusing the BJP of communalising the political atmosphere in the state by raking up issues like beef and Pakistan for electoral gains, he said: “Their (the BJP’s) agenda was clear in this election. One was Mohan Bhagwat’s reservation issue and the other one was communal.”
Mr Yadav had earlier attacked the Prime Minister through a series of tweets saying, “For a mere few seats, the RSS and the BJP exposed themselves on the issues of hatred and intolerance. In BJP, frivolous leaders are always considered the best.” Mr Yadav also advised the Prime Minister “to follow Baba Saheb’s Constitution and not RSS constitution”.
Upbeat by Mr Yadav’s claims, workers and leaders of the Grand Secular Alliance, while taking a dig at BJP chief Amit Shah, said: “Not Pakistan, but Bihar and the entire country will burst crackers on November 8 if the BJP loses.”
JD(U) leader and party spokesperson Sanjay Singh said: “Amit Shah had said that Pakistan will burst crackers but I want to say that even senior BJP leaders who were sidelined will burst crackers on November 8. Just wait for the final announcement.”
Taking a dig at the BJP for not projecting a chief minister candidate in the elections, JD(U) leaders said: “The BJP could not project anyone as it suffered from a leadership crisis. It was out of helplessness that they used the Prime Minister against Nitish Kumar, who has an image of vikas purush, not only in Bihar but in India.”
