Grand Alliance died natural death, says Sushil Modi

After the new Bihar government won the trust vote in the assembly on Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the "unnatural Grand Alliance died naturally" and praised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for not bowing before RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

"We are happy that the government of Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party passed the floor test in the house today," Sushil Modi told reporters after coming out of the assembly here.

He said Nitish Kumar took the decision (to break away from the erstwhile Grand Alliance) at the "right time" as he didn't compromise on corruption. "He didn't bow in front of Lalu Prasad," the state BJP leader said.

He claimed the JD-U's alliance with the BJP will run smoothly for the next 40 months and the new government will work to take Bihar to new heights in development.

Attacking the Rashtriya Janata Dal over moving the Patna High Court, Sushil Modi said Nitish Kumar had already told the Governor about the support of 131 assembly members to his government and hence there was no need for the Governor to invite the RJD to form the government.

"If they had the majority, why didn't they pass the floor test?" he said.

"The floor test proved that the government has the majority. It (Grand Alliance) was an unnatural alliance which died naturally," he added.

Sushil Modi said Nitish Kumar had earlier urged the RJD leaders to put their version on the corruption charges before the public, but they didn't come forward as they didn't have any answers.

Nitish Kumar on Wednesday resigned as the Chief Minister of the Grand Alliance government -- comprising the Janata Dal-United, the RJD, and the Congress -- and joined hands with the National Democratic Alliance and took oath of office the next day.

Targeting Lalu Prasad's younger son Tejashwi Yadav, Sushil Modi -- who was Deputy Chief Minister earlier too to Nitish Kumar in the JD-U-BJP alliance regime -- said: "In the assembly today, Tejashwi didn't speak a single word on charges of over benami properties worth Rs 1,000 crore against him."

"The people of Bihar want to know how the 28-year-old son of Lalu Prasad amassed so much property," the BJP leader said.

--IANS

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