Express News Service
PATNA: Former chief minister and senior Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Rabri Devi on Saturday took a swipe at the chief minister Nitish Kumar in the manner he greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the swearing-in ceremony of Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow on Friday.
Talking to the media in the state assembly premises, Rabri said the video that went viral on social media showed Nitish Kumar virtually bending before the PM Narendra Modi at the swearing-in function in Lucknow. “Nitish Kumar PM Modi ke gor pad gir pade (Nitish virtually touched PM Modi’s feet),” she sarcastically said.
When asked about any political compulsion for Nitish Kumar behind his changed behaviour, Rabri retorted, “Kuchh marboori ho sakti hai. Yahan wahan dono sarkar mein hain. Kuchh to majboori hogi (There may be some compulsion. They are in power both in the state and at the centre),” she added.
Assailing the NDA government for price rise, the former CM said that the people would return to ‘chulha’ (earthen woven) for cooking as prices of gas connection have increased again. “The poor have no money to pay for refilling their gas cylinders,” she alleged.
Earlier, leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav reminded people of Nitish’s statement in which he had said that he would never join hands with the BJP. “Mitti mein mil jayenge lekin BJP mein nahi jayenge (I will prefer to be ruined than joining hands with the BJP),” Tejashwi quoted Nitish as saying in 2013.
Nitish had snapped ties with the NDA soon after he was appointed chairman of the election committee by the BJP in June 2013 and later projected himself as a champion of the secular forces. Even roads and streets of Patna were flooded with posters and banners showing the secular image of Nitish.
Quoting a Delhi-based senior journalist, the opposition leader said the CM had then told him (scribe) that his action showed his fight against ideology. “Our country is secular and its secular image be maintained,” Nitish had reportedly told the journalist.
In juxtaposed, he bent before the same Modi in 2022. “What a great change in the last nine years,” he said, adding the same person bowed down before Narendra Modi.
Nitish and his two deputies—Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi, both from the BJP, had gone to Lucknow to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Yogi Adityanath for the second term on Friday.
