Patna: Home Minister Amit Shah, who is on a visit to Bihar, questioned the credentials of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who, he said, is thriving in political opportunism and has no intention to become Prime Minister.
He also assailed Kumar terming the Bihar CM as a 'party-hopper' who, he said, has become Lalu Prasad Yadav's 'partner in corruption'. "I want to ask Nitish babu, what did you do in these days when you were given the task of running the state? Now, tell me will you mandate for his alliance to return to power again?" Shah said at a rally in Lakhisarai on Thursday.
Shah alleged that Nitish doesn't believe in ethics and is only out to befool people of Bihar. "Can a leader who changes house again & again be trusted? Should the reins of Bihar be given in the hands of such a man? He too knows it. That is why, he is sitting in front of Congress' house to be the PM of the country. He doesn't want to be the PM, he is just befooling Lalu Yadav at this age. He wants to stay here in Bihar & has gathered all rivals of BJP...These 20 parties are the ones who indulged in corruption & scams of Rs 20 lakh crores from 2004-2014..," Shah said.
Shah also mocked Congress saying the party has been trying to launch Rahul Gandhi for the past 20 years. "Congress is a strange party. A leader is launched for the first time in politics. We come from a party where a leader is not launched but the public launches him. But Congress has been launching Rahul baba for 20 years now. But he doesn't launch. This time too, Congress made a failed attempt to launch him in Patna..."he said.
Shah spoke about central schemes which, he said, benefited people of 1.6 lakh households in Bihar. Crores of poor are being given health expenses up to 5 lakh, Shah said. "Narendra Modi government is offering all expenses from 5 lakh to 75 lakh beneficiaries in Bihar. In Bihar alone, 1.25 crore mothers were given toilets at home," the Home Minister said.
He further said that Centre is working to ensure supply of food grains to 1.8 lakh people free of cost. "Narendra Modi has done the work for providing houses to 37 lakh people. Nitish Babu is asking about our accountability?" Shah asked.
Shah's visit to the state during the day was the first by any top BJP leader after the June 23 meeting here of opposition parties which was held to discuss and chart out a path ahead of the 2024 general election.
Lakhisarai is considered as home turf and stronghold of JD(U) chief Lalan Singh. Former central minister and BJP MP Ashwini Kumar Choubey, however, targeted the JD(U) strongman on the day when Shah is visiting the place. " It is not a stronghold of anyone, it is the people of the area who have have the stronghold on that place," Choubey said.
Meanwhile, ahead of his visit to Lakhisarai, supporters of the ruling Mahagathbandhan parties and the opposition BJP have put up posters near the airport and at several locations in Patna. Those put up by supporters of the Grand Alliance government criticised the BJP leadership for violence in Manipur and misuse of central agencies the CBI, ED and the Income Tax department.
