'Nitish's exit from alliance a slap on BJP's face': Tejashwi Yadav after meeting Sonia Gandhi

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Bihar politics: Bihar's newly appointed deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Friday took a swipe at the BJP government and said that only issues like Hindu-Muslims and Mandir-Masjid were discussed when the saffron party was in power.

He said that his government will now focus on issues like employment and those related to youth's future. He spoke to India TV and said that Nitish Kumar breaking alliance with BJP has made the national party fall in line. He added that Nitish's decision to form the Mahagathbandhan government was a "slap on the BJP's face" and a similar coming together of Opposition parties will be replicated across the country.

Yadav, who is in the national capital for the first time after taking the oath of office, held meetings with Opposition leaders in Delhi on Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Delhi, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader said, "Since we have formed the government, issues like employment and those related to youth's future are being addressed. Issues like Hindu-Muslims and Mandir-Masjid were only discussed when BJP was in power. Hatred was sown in the society then." 

Earlier today Yadav called the recent tie-up of Nitish Kumar's JD(U) "a natural alliance and not a deal", and claimed that within a month Bihar will be the largest government jobs-providing state. Speaking to the reporters in the national capital where he reached on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan to meet his father and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejashwi said, "It's a natural alliance, not a deal. This is the real 'Mahagathbandhan' which was formed by Lalu Yadav Ji and Nitish Kumar. We welcomed Nitish Kumar's decision and came together."

Talking about the timeline of the fulfilment of his promises of providing jobs to the youth of the state, the Deputy CM said that it will only be done after the trust vote in the Assembly. "We do not do BJP-style politics that we will threaten and buy the leaders. We will provide jobs, and let the trust vote be over. We are very serious about this issue. Within one month, you will see that Bihar will be the single-largest job-giving state in government jobs," he said.

Meetings with Opposition leaders

Yadav's visit to Delhi holds significance as Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad is here and the finalisation of the names of ministers is set to be high on the agenda during discussions between the two. The cabinet, which at present comprises only Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Yadav as his deputy, is due for expansion early next week.

In an attempt to unite the entire opposition, the Bihar deputy chief minister met CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI General Secretary D Raja and is learnt to have discussed the developments in Bihar as well as the way forward. After the meeting, Tejashwi said in a tweet that he met the two Left leaders and had a positive discussion on the current social, economic and political scenario prevailing in the country and Bihar.

"Bihar, the land which gave birth to democracy, has again shown the way to the country," Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi. Yadav, who arrived here last night, is also expected to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi later in the day.

Earlier, he celebrated Rakshabandhan with his sisters.

Yadav is likely to be back in Bihar soon for the cabinet expansion expected immediately after Independence Day. The expansion would be followed, later this month, by a special session of the assembly when the new government will prove its majority on the floor.

The RJD leader served as deputy chief minister of Bihar from 2015 to 2017. Kumar and Yadav had taken oath on Wednesday, a day after the JD(U) snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD, the Congress and some other parties to form a ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government.

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(ANI, PTI inputs)