While congress and other Opposition parties targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government over the Pathankot terror attack and his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Bihar
While congress and other Opposition parties targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government over the Pathankot terror attack and his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar stood in support of his meeting, calling it “a big step towards peace process between the two countries.”
He said, “I personally feel that such kind of meetings and talks should continue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision was right.” Adding to this he said, “whenever there has been an attempt to bring normalcy between the two countries, such attacks are carried out to disrupt the peace process. Situation in Pakistan is different from India. I appreciate his sudden decision to visit and meet Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif and I don’t see anything wrong even if the visit was pre-planned.”
On the other hand, Mr Lalu Yadav, the major ally of Mr Kumar and the grand secular government in Bihar, mounted an attack on PM Modi, saying that “the country was unsafe in the hands of the BJP.”
Mr Yadav, while attacking the PM, also took a dig at him, saying “he had earlier claimed that he has 56-inch chest where has it gone now, Prime Minister must first ensure safety to this country and then talk about other issues.”
Last month, PM Modi had made a surprise visit to Lahore in Pakistan and met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.
Mr Kumar is successfully running the grand secular alliance government in Bihar with the support of allies RJD and Congress. His latest gesture towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Pakistan visit was being interpreted in political circle as indicative of his subtle move to get closer to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The contradictory statement made by Mr Kumar and Mr Yadav was being seen as the former’s preparedness to get the backing of the BJP and the NDA in the event Mr Yadav rocked his boat.
Nitish Kumar’s sudden statement in favor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi not only startled everyone in the political circle but also left his main ally congress and RJD confused. Nitish Kumar who had earlier waged a political battle against Prime Narendra Modi first by pulling himself out of NDA in 2013 and then by joining hands with RJD and congress. The Nitish Kumar camp followers believe that there were no permanent friends and foes in politics. If Nitish Kumar could forget his dislike and shake hands with Lalu Yadav to defeat his sixteen year old friend then he could also be a friend with BJP once again in future.
