Barbs flew thick and fast on Friday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off campaigning season in Bihar with his maiden election rally in Samastipur, setting the tone for an intense poll season in the state.
PM Modi virtually endorsed Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar as the face of NDA and intensified his attack on the RJD, reviving the horrors of "jungle raj" yet again.
However, the war of words between Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav were the highlight as both the leaders — former allies who are spearheading their respective alliances — took potshots at each other.
During the rally in Samstipur, the JD(U) chief called his brief alliance with the RJD a "mistake", adding that he is better off with NDA, the coalition he had originally joined hands with.
"I had brief alliances with his party, only to realise that it was a mistake and I was better off in the coalition I had been a part of since the beginning", said the JD(U) president, who has been an NDA partner, for the most part, since the 1990s.
Nitish, who is known for his flip-flops, first joined hands with RJD in 2015 after breaking ranks with NDA. He broke ties with the party in 2017, reunited briefly in 2022 and split again in January 2024.
During the rally, Nitish also lambasted RJD president Lalu Prasad, whom he did not mention by name, for misgoverning the state and "making his wife the chief minister when he had to step down".
He was referring to the resignation of Lalu Prasad from the post of chief minister in 1997, following a CBI charge-sheet in fodder scam cases, and the taking over of Rabri Devi.
Kumar added, "He (Prasad) has not mended his ways. After having propped up his wife, he is now busy backing sons and daughters", referring to Tejashwi.
'You all know Chacha ji's nature'
Meanwhile, former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav made sarcastic jibes at Nitish, referring to over his political flipflops.
“Uncle (Nitish Kumar)’s nature changes again and again — from this side to that side," the RJD leader, who is the CM face of Mahagathbandhan, said at a rally in Saharsa.
He added that BJP has yet again hijacked Nitish Kumar for the elections, accusing the saffron party of mistreating the JD(U) chief.
"Amit Shah has said that after the election, the BJP will decide who will be the Chief Minister. One thing is clear: Nitish Kumar ji has once again been hijacked by the BJP. You all know Chacha ji’s nature, he is good at heart, but we are saddened that BJP leaders are treating him unfairly," he said.
Elections in Bihar will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11. The results will be declared on November 14.
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