Nitish Kumar no longer enjoys Amit Shah’s trust, claims RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday claimed in the Assembly that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar no longer enjoyed the trust of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition, made the remark while taking part in a debate on a cut motion moved by the Opposition, on the penultimate day of the Monsoon Session. The debate resulted in a heated duel between the Opposition and the ruling sides, leading to adjournment of the post-lunch session.

“What is the reason behind Shah losing his trust in Kumar? He keeps saying that the upcoming Assembly polls will be fought under the JD(U) president’s leadership, but time will tell who would be the chief minister,” Yadav said.

“If indeed Shah still has faith in the leadership of Kumar, let him put to rest all speculations and declare that the chief minister will continue to occupy the seat of power till 2030. Let the home minister make the announcement during his upcoming tour of Sitamarhi,” the RJD leader said.

Shah, widely regarded as the BJP’s principal strategist, is scheduled to visit Sitamarhi in August, to lay the foundation stone for a temple dedicated to Goddess Sita.

Yadav also asserted that “the NDA is not going to have another shot at power in Bihar. This government is 20-years-old and has become like a rickety car”.

“Even the Central Government now has ordered that vehicles more than 15 years should be off the roads,” the former Deputy CM quipped.

Continuing his tirade against Kumar, Yadav said the CM “is not in his senses”, keeps “silent on all issues” and cannot put pressure on the Centre for a special package despite being a crucial ally.

“The JD(U) seems to have reduced itself to the status of a cell of the BJP. A handful of people who are said to have the eyes and the ears of the CM are all working for the BJP,” he alleged.

“People in the JD(U) have started speaking of an RSS quota,” remarked Yadav, in a reference to the party’s national general secretary and minister Ashok Choudhary, who had recently claimed that his son-in-law was made a member of the state board for religious trusts upon the recommendation of the RSS.

Alleging widespread nepotism in appointments to boards and commissions, the RJD leader said the NDA in Bihar “should be called National Damaad Aayog (commission for sons-in-law)”.

Yadav, who had recently made a slew of populist promises like monthly stipends for women and 200 units of free power in the event of RJD-led coalition forming the next government, charged the Nitish Kumar administration with being a “copycat”.

“It is clear from where they got the idea of announcing 125 units of free power. In due course, they will copy our proposed ‘Maai Bahen Yojana’, too,” he claimed.

Yadav also raised the issue of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, on which he, along with other opposition leaders, were allowed to make statements in the pre-lunch session.

“Callous polling officials are throwing away enumeration forms on the streets. Journalists... who report these things are slapped with FIRs,” he alleged.

This evoked an angry response from the ruling side, with its members trying to shout down the leader of the opposition.

By the time, tempers had frayed on both sides with members storming into the well. An MLA was also seen ripping off the mic attached to his desk and charging menacingly towards the opposition members.

Subsequently, Speaker Nand Kishor Yadav adjourned the proceedings till 4 pm.

Later, talking to reporters outside the assembly, Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the BJP members seemed to have planned an assault on him in advance.

“BJP MLA Janak Singh hurled expletives against me. Nobody stopped him. Later, Sanjay Singh charged in my direction and I was saved by my party colleagues,” he claimed.

Asked about a statement by Vijay Kumar Sinha, another deputy CM, that the RJD had “contract killings in its DNA and hence indulged in unruly behaviour”, Yadav said, “I am ready to surrender my licensed weapon. The government can get me killed if that makes it happy.”