BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP and former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi on Sunday challenged the state’s chief minister Nitish Kumar to contest Lok Sabha elections from any part of Uttar Pradesh, adding that the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) supremo would not be able to save even his election deposit.
Modi’s remarks came in the wake of an offer from Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav to Kumar to contest the next general election from UP’s Phoolpur.
“Akhilesh Yadav wants Nitish ji to come to Uttar Pradesh and lose his deposit in the election. Everyone knows that Yadav has no candidate in his own state. He had an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the last Lok Sabha elections and what happened. The alliance later broke and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won with 62 seats,” Modi told news agency ANI.
Modi, who has often attacked Kumar over Bihar law and order since renewing his alliance with the Lalu Prsad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), said recent incidents in Chhapra, Katihar and Muzaffarpur are ‘far more inhumane’.
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“The incidents that took place in Chhapra (where two police personnel were injured after being attacked by criminals at Mufassil Police Station area), in Katihar (where several police personnel were injured on Saturday after a group of villagers attacked Pranpur police station following the death of a man allegedly in custody), and in Muzaffarpur three days ago, were far more inhumane than what used to happen during the Lalu Raj (RJD’s reign).”
Kumar said the situation is beyond Kumar’s control as he is ‘inattentive’ to the matters of the state because of his ‘ambition’ to become the prime minister, adding that people are scared that Lalu Raj, a term often used by his detractors to describe the failed law and order in Bihar during his term as chief minister, has returned to the state.
(With agency inputs)