The Congress on Monday slammed senior Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Shivanand Tiwari for his statement on party leader Rahul Gandhi. It said he (Mr. Tiwari) “wants to weaken the Mahagathbandhan and save the fragile NDA government in Bihar”.
Mr. Tiwari said on Sunday that during the recent Bihar polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was having a picnic at his sister’s house in Shimla.
“Mr. Tiwari wants to make a division between the RJD and the Congress on the direction of the BJP and the JD(U) so that the fragile NDA government in Bihar could be saved and all possibilities of formation of a mahagathbandhan government in future in Bihar be dismissed and the NDA government remained in power”, said Congress’s Bihar in charge Shaktisinh Gohil.
“The RJD leadership too should take note of this ‘aastin ka saanp’ [betrayer]. Otherwise, maximum damage will be done to those parties that are united with ideological commitment and people of Bihar as well”, he stated.
‘He cannot act like RJD leaders’
Congress leader Tariq Anwar too slammed the RJD leader’s statement. “The RJD is a regional party and its scope is limited to Bihar. Rahul Gandhi had said that he will keep coming here whenever Bihar needs him and he did this as well. He [Mr. Gandhi] cannot act like RJD leaders”, he said.
Senior State Congress leader and party MLC Prem Chandra Mishra said, “Shivanand Tiwari is not an official spokesman for the RJD. He is hand in gloves with the BJP and the JD(U) and is speaking their language”.
BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh tweeted to take a jibe at Mr. Tiwari’s statement. “Regarding Rahul Gandhi, senior leader of the RJD, an ally of the grand alliance in Bihar, Shivanand Tiwari says that he (Rahul Gandhi) is a non-serious tourist politician. Shivanand ji has come to know Rahul ji more than Obama (former US President). Why is the Congress silent yet?”, he said.
Under the RJD-led UPA coalition, the Congress contested the recent elections in 70 seats but performed below expectation by wining only 19 seats. The RJD got 75 out of a total of 144 it contested. Three Left parties bagged 16 out of a total of 29 seats they contested. The Mahagathbandhan got 110 seats, while the NDA bagged 125 and crossed the magic figure of 122 to form the next government.
“Had Congress party performed well, the Mahagathbandhan would have formed the government this time”, said Left leaders.
Congress’s poor performance
Senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari had also raised questions over the dismal performance of the Congress in the polls. “Rahul Gandhi visited Bihar on three days and addressed two rallies every day. PM Modi is very senior to him in age but he has been addressing three-four rallies every day. After campaigning for three days, Rahul Gandhi went to Shimla for picnic at his sister’s house”, he said on Sunday.
Mr. Tiwari’s son, Rahul Tiwari, won the recent polls from Shahpur in Bhojpur on RJD ticket.