'Puppy', 'burqa' won't yield votes: Nitish

Such 'poisonous' language would trigger similar reaction from others which would disturb peace and harmony in the country, Nitish said

Decrying the 'puppy' and 'burqa' remarks, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in a veiled attack on Narendra Modi, said use of such language will not yield votes for the BJP, and instead will only pollute the environment.

'Use of such derogatory language will not earn any votes for the BJP in elections ... But it will definitely pollute the environment in the country,' Kumar told reporters here reacting to the Gujarat chief minister's 'puppy' and 'burqa' comments.

Modi had accused the Congress of hiding behind burqa (veil) of secularim to hide its failures. In an interview to a foreign news agency earlier, he had on being asked whether he regretted the 2002 riots in Gujarat, responded that one will feel sad even if a puppy comes under the vehicle you are travelling in.

Such 'poisonous' language would trigger similar reaction from others which would disturb peace and harmony in the country, he said.

Kumar, a senior JD(U) leader, said, 'The kind of things happening in the past 2-3 days (Modi's puppy and burqa comments in particular) vindicates JD(U)'s decision to snap ties with BJP whose leadership has now become divisive.'

'The cat is now out of the bag ... Our apprehension is coming true,' Kumar said, justifying JD(U)'s decision to break up with 17-year-old NDA partner BJP over elevation of Modi as BJP campaign committee chief.

On lawyer-politician Ram Jethmalani's comments that he would work for unity between Modi and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, whose case in fodder scam he has taken up, Kumar said, 'I have been speaking about their liaison for long and now Ram Jethmalani has provided the seal of approval over this hidden fact.