Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi, whose 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' is currently in its Bihar leg, slammed chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday over his recent turnaround that led to a Janata Dal-United (JDU) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition government in the state, removing the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress from power.
Ditching the opposition bloc India and joining hands with the BJP, Nitish Kumar took oath as chief minister of Bihar for a record ninth time on Sunday, January 28. This is Nitish Kumar's fifth flipflop since 2005.
Hitting out at Nitish Kumar over the same, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the Bihar chief minister makes a u-turn whenever a little pressure is exerted.
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Making an address at his Yatra, Rahul Gandhi said, "Aapke state ke chief minister ke baare me chutkula hai... sunna hai? aapke chief minister governor ke yaha swearing-in ke liye gaye, bada dhoom-dham tha, waha bjp ke neta baithe the, governor saab baithe the, sab MLA baithe the... [There is a joke about the chief minister of your state.. do you want to hear? Your [Bihar's] chief minister went to the governor's place for swearing-in, BJP leaders were there, governor was there, all the MLAs were there..]"
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"Nitish ji shapath lete hain chief minister ka... khoob taliyaan bajti hai aur fir Nitish ji wapis CM house ki or chale jaate hain...gaadi me pata lagta hai wo apna shawl governor ke yaha chodh aaye [He has sworn in as the chief minister...when Nitish ji was going back to the CM house...he realised he forgot his shawl at the governor house]."
Rahul Gandhi goes on to say, "wo driver se kehte hain bhaiya chalo wapas shawl uthana hai, driver gaadi ghumata hai, governor ke ghar aata hai, governor kehte hain itni jaldi wapas aa gaye? [He asks the driver to go back to the governor's house to pick shawl... the governor then says you come back so soon?]
This is the situation in Bihar, you expert a little pressure, and there's a u-turn, Rahul Gandhi said.
JD(U) president Nitish Kumar took oath as chief minister for a record ninth time to welcome a BJP-JD(U)-led NDA government in Bihar on Sunday after ditching the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) and the opposition bloc INDIA. This is Nitish Kumar's fifth swap since November 2005 while being the chief minister.
The move by Nitish Kumar came as a big setback for the opposition (INDIA bloc) unity ahead of the upcoming mega Lok Sabha polls, especially after Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also refused to share seats in the state with Congress.
