While leaving his residence to file nomination from the Raghopur Aassembly constituency in Vaishali district of Bihar on Wednesday, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Opposition “mahagathbandhan” (grand alliance) chief minister face Tejashwi Yadav dared Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to contest poll against him from any constituency of his choice from his (Mr. Kumar’s) own home turf, Nalanda district.
Mr. Yadav said, “Let him [Nitish Kumar] select any one constituency of his choice from his home district Nalanda and I’ll contest against him. Bihar is heading for a change”.
Mr. Yadav also hit back at Union Minister Nitya Nand Rai for his comment that if “the RJD would come to power in Bihar, terrorists from Kashmir will take shelter in the State”. He said, “What does he [Mr. Rai] have to say on the terror of unemployment, poverty, starvation & migration?... What did their double-engine govt do in 15 years?... It’s their attempt to divert people’s attention from the main agenda”.
At a public gathering in Vaishali on Tuesday, Mr. Rai said, “terrorists whom we [the NDA government] are eliminating from Kashmir will escape and take shelter in Bihar, if the RJD is elected to power. We will not let this happen.”
Mr. Tejashwi Yadav, on the occasion, took blessings from his mother, former Chief Minister Rabri Devi; a photo-frame of his imprisoned father Lalu Prasad; and older brother Tej Pratap Yadav, by touching their feet.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr. Tej Pratap filed his nomination from the Hasanpur constituency and Mr. Tejashwi Yadav had addressed a crowded public meeting there.
Jobs for youth promise
Mr Tejashwi Yadav reiterated his promise that if his government would come to power, “the first thing he would do in the first Cabinet meeting of the government is to provide 10 lakh jobs to unemployed youths”.
Mr. Kumar responded, saying: “The voters should find out how many cabinet meetings used to take place during his parents [Mr.Prasad and Ms. Devi) regime for 15 years”, and Mr. Tejashwi Yadav retorted, saying: “lets debate on my 20 months in his [Mr. Nitish Kumar)’s Cabinet as Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Road Construction”.
Under the ‘mahagathbandhan’, the RJD is contesting in 144 seats out of a total of 243 seats, leaving 70 to the Congress and 29 to the Left parties.