BJP attacks Bihar CM Nitish Kumar over Red Fort poster at iftar

PATNA: A verbal duel erupted on Tuesday after CM Nitish Kumar attended an iftar party hosted by his party MLA Khalid Anwar and his group photograph taken in the backdrop of a looming poster of Red Fort on the stage a day before came in the public domain. The BJP said the photograph was a sign of Nitish's hidden desire to become prime minister even though he has repeatedly clarified that he does not nurse any such ambition.
The state BJP leaders said Nitish's dream to become the PM was unrealisable, while the ruling JD(U), RJD and Congress dismissed the saffron snide as a mark of their desperation, since Nitish has announced his exercise for opposition unity against the BJP sometime after the budget session ending Wednesday.
The Red Fort of Delhi is from where the country's Prime Minister unfurls the tricolour on August 15 every year.
Rajya Sabha member and senior BJP functionary Sushil Kumar Modi said: "No one can become PM by getting himself photographed in front of the poster of Red Fort. If he so wills, and to please himself, he (Nitish) can also get himself photographed before the White House (seat of the US President)."
State BJP president Samrat Chaudhary said, "CM (Nitish) is being happy that he will become PM merely by looking at the Red Fort." Former minister Jiwesh Mishra was equally sarcastic when he said, "Bihar needs 'raftaar' (speed), not iftar." Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan also said Nitish's dream to become PM will not materialise.
However, RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwary noted that Nitish was definitely a PM material, as he has "experience of running Union ministry, has been the state's CM and also has experience, energy and vision to run the country. He, of course, will be working for opposition unity against BJP, which is why this party has become desperate."
JD(U) MLA Khalid Anwar, who hosted the iftar party, said it was the "desire of everyone to see Nitish as PM and everyone wants BJP to be unseated from power in 2024. There is nothing wrong to get photographed before the poster of the Red Fort".