Bihar showdown: RJD's Tejashwi Yadav claims Amit Shah no longer trusts Nitish Kumar's leadership; dares BJP to end speculation
NEW DELHI:
RJD
leader and leader of opposition
Tejashwi Yadav
on Thursday claimed in the Bihar Assembly that Union home minister
Amit Shah
no longer has faith in Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar
's leadership.
The statement triggered a stormy debate on the floor of the House, forcing the speaker to adjourn proceedings post-lunch.
'What is the reason behind Shah losing his trust in Kumar? He keeps saying that the upcoming assembly polls will be fought under the JD(U) president's leadership, but time will tell who would be the chief minister,' Yadav said during a debate on a cut motion moved by the opposition on the penultimate day of the monsoon session.
As per news agency PTI, Yadav challenged the BJP to publicly back Kumar. 'If indeed Shah still has faith in Kumar's leadership, let him put to rest all speculation and declare that the chief minister will continue to occupy the seat of power till 2030.
Let the home minister make this announcement during his upcoming tour of Sitamarhi,' Yadav said.
Shah is scheduled to visit the district next month to lay the foundation stone for a temple dedicated to Goddess Sita.
Attacking the ruling NDA government, the former deputy CM said it has become a 'rickety car' after 20 years in power. 'Even the central government has said that vehicles older than 15 years should be off the roads,' he quipped.
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Yadav also accused Kumar of remaining silent on key issues and failing to pressure the Centre for a special economic package for Bihar, despite being part of the ruling NDA. 'The JD(U) has reduced itself to a cell of the BJP. A handful of people who are said to have the eyes and the ears of the CM are all working for the BJP,' he alleged.
In a sharp attack on perceived nepotism, Yadav referred to JD(U) national general secretary Ashok Choudhary's claim that his son-in-law was appointed to the state board for religious trusts based on a recommendation from the RSS.
'People in the JD(U) have started speaking of an RSS quota,' he remarked. 'This NDA should now be called the National Damaad Aayog (Commission for Sons-in-law),' he added.
The RJD leader also took aim at the Nitish-led government's recent promise of 125 units of free electricity, calling it a 'copycat' of RJD's pledge to provide 200 free units and stipends for women under a proposed 'Maai Bahen Yojana.'
'In due course, they will copy our other schemes too,' he claimed.
Tensions escalated when Yadav raised concerns about the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by the Election Commission. 'Polling officials are throwing enumeration forms on the streets. Journalists who report such issues are slapped with FIRs,' he alleged.
The remarks infuriated ruling NDA MLAs, leading to a noisy confrontation in the House. An NDA member was seen ripping off a desk mic and charging toward opposition benches, prompting Speaker Nand Kishor Yadav to adjourn the session till 4 pm.
Later, outside the Assembly, Yadav accused BJP members of attempting a physical assault on him. 'BJP MLA Janak Singh hurled expletives at me. No one stopped him. Sanjay Singh also charged toward me. I was saved by my party colleagues,' he told reporters.
Responding to a remark by deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha, who alleged that 'contract killing is in RJD's DNA', Yadav shot back, 'I am ready to surrender my licensed weapon.
The government can get me killed if that makes it happy.'
Yadav's attack comes amid his warning that the RJD might boycott the upcoming Bihar elections if the SIR exercise is not scrapped. 'What is happening in the name of SIR is nothing short of fraud,' Yadav had said earlier. He accused the Election Commission of acting under 'remote control' from Delhi and claimed the exercise was aimed at deleting voter names selectively.
JD(U) leader and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan' called Yadav's boycott threat an admission of defeat. 'He knows they will lose. Their forgery has been exposed,' he said.
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