BJP asks Nitish how merger turned into alliance

Dubs the coming together of JD(U) and RJD as an alliance of 'defeated people'

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BJP today dubbed the coming together of JD(U) and RJD as an alliance of "defeated people" and asked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to reveal the "compromise" behind Janta Parivar merger turning into a coalition.

"(Nitish) Kumar, Lalu (Prasad) and Mulayam Singh Yadav had been talking about merger, but it suddenly came down to alliance. There had been no consensus among them over the Chief Ministerial candidate and Lalu had publicly said it has not been decided," senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.

"Kumar was suddenly chosen the CM candidate. Prasad clarified he has drunk poison to stop BJP. But the real thing is that his children are not yet ready for politics. He (Kumar) is silent since then. We ask him to reveal what compromise has been struck for this," Prasad, Union Minister for Communications and IT, said.

Prasad dubbed the coming together of JD(U) and RJD as an "alliance of defeated people out of fear", and the foundation of a developed Bihar could not be made by it.

Attacking Prasad for his alleged "heritage of kidnapping, crime, lack of governance, as well as, overpowering fear", he asked Kumar "whether his talk about governance is based on this heritage?"

Predicting that the Bihar Chief Minister will repent the alliance, Prasad said, "I have known Kumar since the JP movement days. He is known for his nature of committing mistakes in a hurry and repenting them later. He repented anointing Jitan Ram Manjhi and he will repent going with Lalu in the next three to four months."

Poking fun at 'Bihar@2025' initiative launched by Kumar to reach 4 crore people for participatory planning and policy making, Prasad said the state's statistics reveal another picture after he parted ways from the NDA.