Nitish Kumar’s decision to form Mahagathbandhan govt ‘slap on BJP’s face: Tejashwi

India

pti-PTI

New
Delhi,
Aug
12:
Bihar
Chief
Minister
Nitish
Kumar’s
decision
to
form
the
Mahagathbandhan
government
was
a
“slap
on
the
BJP’s
face”
and
a
similar
coming
together
of
Opposition
parties
will
be
replicated
across
the
country,
Deputy
Chief
Minister
Tejashwi
Yadav
said
on
Friday
after
meeting
Congress
chief
Sonia
Gandhi.

The
Rashtriya
Janata
Dal
leader,
who
met
Gandhi
at
her
10
Janpath
residence
here,
accused
the
BJP
of
working
to
finish
regional
parties
and
asserted
that
if
they
are
finished,
the
Opposition
and
democracy
will
be
finished
as
well.

Yadav,
who
also
met
CPI(M)
general
secretary
Sitaram
Yechury
and
CPI
general
secretary
D
Raja,
said
the
pre-poll
constituents
of
the
Mahagathbandhan
(grand
alliance)
have
welcomed
the
decision
by
Nitish
Kumar.
“This
government
will
run
strongly
because
this
government
is
a
government
for
the
poor…it
is
the
government
of
the
people.

The
decision
by
Nitish
Kumar
at
the
right
time,
you
can
say,
is
a
slap
on
the
BJP’s
face,”
he
told
reporters
outside
10
Janpath.
Yadav
said
all
parties
have
joined
hands
against
the
BJP
in
the
Bihar
Assembly,
and
added
“now
this
is
going
to
be
replicated
across
the
whole
country”.

“People
are
suffering
due
to
inflation.
There
are
those
who
want
to
rule
by
creating
Hindu-Muslim
tensions,
put
the
Constitution
and
democracy
in
danger,
they
want
to
break
the
brotherhood,
Bihar
has
once
again
given
a
new
direction
to
the
country,”
he
said.
“For
that
we
thank
the
chief
minister,
Sonia
Gandhi
ji,
Yechury
ji,
Dipankar
ji(Bhattacharya,
CPI-ML
general
secretary),
Raja
ji
and
Lalu
(Prasad)
ji,”
he
said.

Yadav
said
Lalu
Prasad
fought
against
communal
forces
and
social
justice.
“He
(Lalu)
never
got
scared
nor
did
he
bow
before
such
forces,”
Yadav
added.
He
accused
the
BJP
of
destroying
regional
parties,
citing
the
happenings
in
Maharashtra
and
Jharkhand.
“BJP
wants
to
scare
those
who
get
scared
and
buy
those
who
are
willing
to
be
bought
out,”
Yadav
alleged.

“Constitutional
institutions
are
being
destroyed.
Be
it
Enforcement
Directorate,
Central
Bureau
of
Investigation
or
Income
Tax
(Department),
their
condition
is
worse
than
police
stations.
Who
do
they
want
to
scare?
We,
the
people
of
Bihar,
are
not
going
to
be
scared.
I
have
said
‘Bihari
bikaau
nahi,
tikaau
hota
hai’
(People
of
Bihar
cannot
be
bought
out,
they
are
reliable),”
he
said.
They
will
never
compromise
with
their
self-respect,
Yadav
said,
adding
Bihar
and
Nitish
Kumar
have
shown
this.

Alleging
that
the
BJP
wants
to
destroy
regional
parties,
he
said
regional
parties
are
mostly
of
backwards
and
Dalits
and
the
BJP
wants
to
finish
such
parties.
“You
wanted
to
finish
Nitish
Kumar,
you
created
division
in
Ram
Vilas
Paswan
ji’s
party.
If
regional
parties
are
finished,
Opposition
will
be
finished,
democracy
will
be
finished.
If
democracy
is
finished,
the
country
will
be
run
in
a
dictatorial
manner,”
he
said.

Yadav’s
visit
to
Delhi,
the
first
to
the
national
capital
after
taking
the
oath
of
office,
also
holds
significance
as
Rashtriya
Janata
Dal
supremo
Lalu
Prasad
is
here
and
the
finalisation
of
names
of
ministers
is
set
to
be
high
on
the
agenda
during
discussions
between
the
two.
The
cabinet,
which
at
present
comprises
only
Chief
Minister
Nitish
Kumar
and
Yadav
as
his
deputy,
is
due
for
expansion
early
next
week.

Earlier,
he
met
Yechury
and
Raja
here
and
is
learnt
to
have
discussed
the
developments
in
Bihar
as
well
as
the
way
forward.
After
the
meeting,
Yadav
said
in
a
tweet
that
he
met
the
two
Left
leaders
and
had
a
positive
discussion
on
the
current
social,
economic
and
political
scenario
prevailing
in
the
country
and
Bihar.

“Bihar,
the
land
which
gave
birth
to
democracy,
has
again
shown
the
way
to
the
country,”
Yadav
said
in
a
tweet
in
Hindi.
He
also
celebrated
Raksha
Bandhan
with
his
sisters
here.
Yadav
is
likely
to
be
back
in
Bihar
soon
for
the
cabinet
expansion
expected
immediately
after
Independence
Day.
The
expansion
would
be
followed,
later
this
month,
by
a
special
session
of
the
assembly
when
the
new
government
will
prove
its
majority
on
the
floor.

The
RJD
leader
served
as
deputy
chief
minister
of
Bihar
from
2015
to
2017.
Kumar
and
Yadav
had
taken
oath
on
Wednesday,
a
day
after
the
JD(U)
snapped
ties
with
the
BJP-led
NDA
and
joined
hands
with
the
RJD,
the
Congress
and
some
other
parties
to
form
a
‘Mahagathbandhan’
government.