Nitish denies referring to Lalu as snake

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday denied he referred to RJD chief Lalu Prasad as a "snake", and maintained that the reference, in fact, was to former ally Bharatiya Janata Party.

"I have not made any reference to Lalu Prasad in my tweet. I have a long experience of the poisonous ideology of the BJP as an ally. But it failed to influence or affect me. The BJP's ideology is poisonous and I referred to it as a snake," Nitish Kumar said after Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders objected to his reported reference.

Even Lalu Prasad told media persons here that "I am sure Nitish Kumar made this reference with respect to the BJP as he was an ally of the saffron party for a long time".

According to reports, Nitish Kumar, who shared dais with Lalu on Tuesday on the occasion of the birth anniversary of former chief minister Satyendra Narayan Sinha, said he owed his chief ministerial chair to the RJD chief. In his twitter post, he quoted a couplet of Hindi poet-saint Rahim.

Asked how he would be able to give "good development-ordinated government" when partnered by the likes of Lalu Prasad, the chief minister said Bihar's development was his sole agenda and the alliance was meant for that purpose only.

Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United, RJD, Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party will contest the coming Bihar assembly polls together to defeat the BJP-led NDA.