RJD vice president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh today targeted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for "singing paeans to Prime Minister Narendra Modi" despite getting short shrift on issues of special status to Bihar and central status to Patna University.
"By rejecting the demand for central status and saying that Patna University (PU) should compete and find a place among top universities, the Prime Minister hoodwinked people on one hand and showed the BJP's alliance partners their place on the other", Singh told reporters here.
"Similarly, by laying foundation stones for a number of projects in Mokama, the PM put on the back burner the issue of granting special status to Bihar, a long-standing demand which has also been a pet issue of Nitish Kumar", Singh said.
"Despite these recent developments, the Chief Minister is busy singing paeans to the Prime Minister. His actions have exposed the hollowness of his claims of forming an alliance with the BJP in the interest of Bihar. The state is getting no additional benefit by virtue of the same party being in power at the Centre and in the state", the RJD leader and former Union Minister said.
Singh's comments came in the backdrop of the Bihar tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 14 when he attended the Patna University's centenary celebrations and launched a number of development projects at Mokama.
A day later, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lavished praise on the PM saying he "leads from the front"and takes responsibility for success and failure alike.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued here, state Health minister and the BJP's former state unit chief Mangal Pandey trained his guns at Singh, calling him "a parrot who is not even a second-rung leader in his own party".
Pandey also lashed out at RJD supremo Lalu Prasad for his sharp reactions on the CM making an unsuccessful plea for central status to PU and the PM turning down the request within minutes of it being made.
"For 15 years, Lalu ruled Bihar. He was a part of the UPA for the entire 10-year-long the alliance ruled the country. He himself held the crucial Railway portfolio for five years. But all these years central status for PU did not cross his mind though he is an alumnus. Now that the PM has provided a roadmap to make the university world class he and his party men are trying to put hurdles", Pandey alleged.
"Both Prasad and Singh ought to do a comparative analysis of RJD and NDA regimes in Bihar before speaking. They must also remember that a favour is sought with humility and not arrogance", he added.
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