Patna: Realising the damage his tweet referring to a ‘snake' had caused, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today clarified that it was not aimed at his political rival-turned-partner Lalu Yadav, chief of Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD.
Yesterday, during a conversation on micro-blogging website Twitter, Nitish apparently compared himself with `sandalwood' (chandan) and Lalu with 'snake'.
Replying to a follower, Nitish tweeted, “Bihar's development is my sole agenda. (जो रहीम उत्तम प्रकृति, का करी सकत कुसंग| चन्दन विष व्यापत नहीं, लिपटे रहत भुजंग||)”
Many speculated that the tweet was aimed at Lalu as the question asked by the user Sunil Chandak (@SunilVChandak) referred to former Bihar CM.
“#AskNitish if you win with Laluji and there numbers are significant how can you will able to give good development ordinated government?” he had asked during a discussion with Kumar.
Did Nitish Kumar refer to Lalu Yadav as snake?
However, Nitish today denied referring to Lalu and told reporters, "Didn't Laluji also say zehar pii lenge? Did he mean Nitish is zehar?So 'zehrila vihar' in tweet is BJP,"
Lalu was also quick to rebut the speculation and said, "It must be BJP Nitish would have talked about."
RJD and JD(U) have formed an alliance before the assembly elections to counter BJP's winning streak.
The solidarity shown by two reluctant partners is more of a compulsion than an alliance as both their parties lost badly in last year's Lok Sabha elections, in which BJP allies won 31 out of 40 seats in Bihar.
Nitish Kumar, a two time CM, is looking for the third consecutive term in the office.
Lalu, who has led Bihar in the past, has been reportedly unhappy with his former rival getting another shot at office, but cannot contest the election himself because he has been convicted in a corruption case.
Both the parties had to lick their wounds after being worsted by the BJP-led NDA in recently-concluded Legislative Council polls.
Assembly elections in Bihar will take place in September-October this year.
