Nitish taunts BJP for dropping veterans from list of campaigners

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for removing party veterans Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi from the list of campaigners in Bihar, saying it's the old habit of the ruling party at the Centre to sideline their stalwarts.

"The BJP talks of traditions but they have now forgotten their leaders who have served the party for ages. The contributions of Advani and Joshi are immense," said Kumar.

The Janata Dal (United) leader also expressed his surprise over the BJP's decision to remove actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha from the campaigner's list.

"Sinha has been with the BJP for almost 25 years. He is the most loyal politician. When no one came to listen to the BJP leaders, they called Sinha. But now, they've forgotten him," he added.

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Meanwhile, Nitish while commenting on Mulayam Singh Yadav's exit from the grand alliance in Bihar said it did not matter as the coalition in Bihar was intact.

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The Election Commission announced the dates for Bihar assembly polls on Wednesday.

The five-phase election will be held from October to November; the first phase will take place on October 12 and the final phase will be held on November 5.

Counting of votes will take place on November 8.