PATNA: LJP chief Chirag Paswan continued his attack on JD(U) president and CM Nitish Kumar on Sunday. He said Nitish should thank his BJP colleagues for following ‘coalition dharma’ despite huge public resentment against him. He also accused Nitish of repeatedly trying to create differences between LJP and BJP.
In a series of tweets after performing the ‘dashkarma’ ritual of his father late Ram Vilas Paswan, Chirag said even PM Narendra Modi should not find himself in any dilemma and follow coalition dharma in attacking him during his election rallies in Bihar.
“I do not want the PM to be in any ‘dharmsankat’ because of me. He should follow his ‘coalition dharma’ and speak against me whatever he thinks fit to satisfy CM Nitish Kumar, who is an ally of the NDA in the state. LJP is not a part of the state government,” Chirag said and added: “I do not need to exhibit my relations with the prime minister. From the time when my father was in the hospital to his last rites, I can never forget what he (PM) has done for me.”
Modi is to address 12 election rallies in Bihar from October 23. Nitish is likely to join the PM’s election rallies in the first and last phase of the elections.
Chirag, however, advised BJP leaders to ‘use words wisely’. He was referring to the ‘votekatwa’ comments for LJP made by some of the BJP leaders. His reactions came a day after Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP incharge of party affairs in Bihar, Bhupender Yadav, reiterated that Nitish would become CM even if JD(U) got less number of seats compared to BJP in the assembly polls.
LJP, which earlier said it would field candidates against JD(U), later pitted nearly half a dozen candidates against BJP as well. It also roped in former Bihar BJP vice-president Rajendra Singh and fielded him from Dinara, besides the saffron party’s former national secretary Rameshwar Chaurasia, who is contesting the polls from Sasaram on LJP ticket.