Pan-India campaign on emergency to expose Nitish, Lalu: BJP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a nationwide campaign to mark the 40th anniversary of the Emergency on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party said here on Wednesday.

The campaign would highlight how Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, one-time followers of the anti-emergency Jayaprakash Narayan movement, joined hands with Congress, the party which had imposed it (between 1975-1977), BJP general secretary Arun Singh said at a press conference.

The Sunday programme coincides with the 113th birth anniversary of social reformer Jayaprakash Narayan, whose movement against the emergency had witnessed participation of many leaders, including Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad.

"We wonder how the followers of the JP movement could sit in the lap of the party (Congress) that had imposed Emergency in the country and sent thousands behind bars," BJP leader national general secretary Arun Singh said at a press conference here.

The campaign will be launched on October 11 at the Vigyan Bhavan during which where Prime Minister Modi will be the chief guest, he said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu, BJP's senior leader Lal Krishna Advani, and Punjab Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal would also be present on the occasion, he added.

Stating that the grand alliance of the JD-U and RJD with the Congress party was formed to reap political benefits in the poll-bound Bihar, the BJP leader termed it "unfortunate".

He said the BJP would expose the "opportunistic alliance" in Bihar, adding that through the pan-India campaign people would be informed about Jayaprakash Narayan and his principles along with the imposition of Emergency (on June 25, 1975).

BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh alleged the chief minister of Bihar was working for minority appeasement rather than social development.

Referring to the surveys, the leader said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is on the rise in Bihar, mainly because of development of good governance.

Siddharth Nath Singh said Nitish Kumar's popularity had been declining after the split of the JD(U)-BJP alliance in Bihar and advised him to go for introspection.

He alleged that Nitish Kumar was "greedy" and interested in the chief minister's post without caring for the welfare of the state.

"There is a difference between what he (Nitish Kumar) says and what he does," the leader said, while quoting an earlier statement where Kumar had said he would not seek votes if he failed to provide electricity to all households in Bihar.

He said the central government had released Rs.2,994 crore during 2007-2012 (11th five year plan) for electrification of over 12,800 villages in Bihar, of which only Rs 1,132 crore was used by the state government to supply power to 3,316 villages.

There was no improvement in the state government's performance in the 12th plan either as the Centre provided Rs 5,270 crore to Bihar for electrification of 21,833 villages of which only 380 were electrified, the leader said.

As many as 800 people, arrested the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the emergency, would be honoured in the programme called "Loktantra Raksha Diwas" at Vigyan Bhavan.

--Indo-Asian News Service

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