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‘Would rather die than tie up with BJP again,’ says Nitish Kumar to Oppn’s ‘unpopular CM’ barb

The JD(U) leader, who is now in alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD, has also accused BJP of filing bogus cases against deputy Tejashwai Yadav.

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New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Monday that he would rather die than join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party again, labelling his previous decision to forge an alliance a “mistake”.

The Janata Dal (United) leader, who is now in partnership with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, also accused the BJP of filing bogus cases against his deputy and Lalu’s son Tejashwai Yadav. He said the cases were “deliberate and without basis”.

The JD(U) leader was asked Monday about the BJP’s common refrain that he had abused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trust.

“Listen carefully. They (BJP) went through so much effort. They slapped cases against Tejashwi and his father to get me on board. Now again, they are trying to get after them. These people keep doing such things,” Nitish said.

He rejected any suggestion of a reunion with the BJP, stating: “The question does not arise. I would rather die than tie up with them.”

On Sunday, BJP’s state unit chief Sanjay Jaiswal had said that Nitish Kumar “has the proclivity to oscillate like a pendulum. But we are not going to be cheated by him again”.

Jaiswal also said Kumar has become “hugely unpopular”, adding, “It was his unpopularity that caused the JD(U) to perform badly in the 2020 assembly polls, where he did much better.”

Kumar had walked out of his state alliance with the BJP last August and stitched a partnership with former friend-turned-foe-turned-friend RJD and the Congress.

Jaiswal said Sunday that the BJP was aiming to form its own government in Bihar. “The tone for that will be set in the Lok Sabha elections next year in which we are targetting more than 35 out of Bihar’s 40 seats,” he added.

In a tongue-in-cheek attack, Jaiswal also said: “Today is the birth anniversary of George Fernandes who was a mentor to Nitish. When Nitish did not shy away from betraying him, he could ditch anyone else.”


Also read: Why Nitish is unlikely to expel Kushwaha from JD(U) & lose ‘core votebank’, despite widening rift


 

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