Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Sunday taking a jibe at the opposition said that he had forged alliances "by mistake" with the opposition party which "did nothing" while in power but that now he is with his old friends. His remarks come a day after Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Yadav in a veiled “offer” said that RJD was keeping its "doors open" for the former ally, who is now back in the BJP-led NDA.
"What was the condition of women earlier? Since we started the 'Jeevika Didi' scheme - women are happy, and whenever they need help, they are given help...I had mistakenly gone with them (opposition), but now I am with my old friends. Did they (Opposition) do any work for women? We have worked for everyone - be it Hindus, Muslims, upper castes, backward, Dalits or women. People should remember this," Nitish Kumar said.
However, the Bihar CM did not take questions about the cryptic "offer" from Prasad, which was made light of by the RJD supremo's son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, but endorsed by ally Congress.
Mentioning that 'no area of Bihar is untouched by development,' he said that work has also been done in education, health, road, bridge construction on a large scale."Earlier people from earlier people from any corner of Bihar used to reach Patna in 6 hours, now it has been reduced to 5 hours. Every kind of work is being done for this," Kumar said.
Lalu Yadav’s comments were made in the backdrop of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's equivocal stance on projecting Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate in the assembly polls due in less than a year.
Bihar BJP leaders have maintained and claimed that the JD(U) supremo will be the "face" of the NDA in the 2025 assembly elections. The BJP, which fell short of a majority in the Lok Sabha polls, depended on allies like JD(U) and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's TDP to survive in power at the Centre.
(With PTI inputs)
