On Ambedkar's birth aniversary, Nitish, Shah trade barbs

While the BJP President ridiculed the Janata Parivar alliance by saying 'zero plus zero remains a zero', the Bihar CM said BJP has nothing to do with Ambedkar's ideology

The 124th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar turned into mud-slinging contest between the ruling Janata Dal (United) and the opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar. Senior leaders of both parties took pot-shots at each other, while claiming to be real torch-bearers of Ambedkar's legacy.

Kickstarting the Bhartiya Janata Party's poll campaign for Bihar elections later this year, party chief Amit Shah on Tuesday launched tethering attacks on senior Janata Dal (United) leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Addressing a meeting of party workers at the Gandhi Maidan, that also coincided with the 125th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar, Shah said," They are spreading propaganda over the land bill, but I want to ask Nitish Kumar where the land of 12 sugar mills has gone. He has committed the sin of remaining silent on this. Who has given this land to his friends and kin of Ministers? Rail and road projects have been held up, stalling development of Bihar,"

Shah accused Kumar of "back-stabbing" by disregarding the mandate given by the people for the BJP-JD (U) alliance in the state. He also took potshots at the grand alliance of Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad saying no grand alliance can initiate progress in the state as this can only be done by BJP under Narendra Modi's leadership.

"No one knows who the leader of this coalition will be; Nitish Kumar or Rabri Devi. None can initiate Bihar's development, be it Maha-gathbandhan (grand alliance) or Maha-Vilay(grand merger). It is the BJP, which will form the next goverment in Bihar going by the response at today's meeting".

Shah didn't spare the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad either and took a dig at him, saying "zero plus zero remains a zero" to highlight that merger would not pay them any dividend.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also returned the favour by alleging the saffron party was "masquerading" to win the votes of the weaker section in the state Assembly polls later this year. "For the sake of power, they (BJP) are masquerading. But these turncoats will not get any benefit in the election," Kumar told reporters while celebrating Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary at JD(U) office here.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar paying tribute to Bhim Rao Ambedkar on his birth anniversary at JD(U) office in Patna

"People who have nothing to do with the ideology of the dalit icon are observing his anniversary," he claimed.

"In the lust for power they promised to distribute Rs 15 lakh to the poor from the black money that would be brought back to the country from abroad. They are now praising dalit icon B R Ambedkar to win the votes of the weaker sections," Kumar alleged. He also cautioned partymen and the common man to be aware of these people who describe promises like bringing back black money as 'jumla' (popular saying).