BJP on Wednesday hit back at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his accusation that the saffron party was raising the bogey of 'casteism and jungle raj' only to divert public attention from his development agenda during the assembly polls, alleging his ally Lalu Prasad had taken casteism to a "new high".
BJP on Wednesday hit back at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his accusation that the saffron party was raising the bogey of 'casteism and jungle raj' only to divert public attention from his development agenda during the assembly polls, alleging his ally Lalu Prasad had taken casteism to a "new high".
Taking exception to Kumar's remark that questioned BJP chief Amit Shah's 'aukat' (status), BJP leader Prakash Javadekar shot back, saying those who had accepted RJD chief Lalu Prasad as their leader should tell what was their 'haisiyat' (also meaning status).
Mocking Kumar, the Union Minister said BJP and RSS were good for him as long as he ruled the state with their support. Javadekar also noted that senior party leader LK Advani who "made" Kumar the chief minister was also an RSS 'pracharak'.
"Nitish Kumar is frustrated and desperate and giving bizarre statements. He has lost his balance and his allegations against us are examples of hypocrisy. His 'leader' Lalu Prasad is openly talking about yadavs voting for him.
"He took casteism to a new high and Kumar claims that his agenda is development, while BJP is practicing caste politics.
This is a case of pot calling the kettle black. This is hypocrisy," Javadekar told a press conference. With Prasad and Kumar attacking BJP over the issue of reservation, he said they should ask their ally Congress to clarify its position on the stand taken by its leaders Jitin Prasada and Manish Tewari, both former ministers, that the existing quota system be reviewed.
The Bihar Chief Minister had wondered if BJP's statement distancing the party from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's call for a review of the reservation policy would carry any weight and referred to Shah's 'aukat' in that context.
"Kumar has knelt down before Congress for 2-4 per cent votes," he alleged, accusing him of speaking a lie that it was Bihar BJP leader Sushil Modi who had asked him to cancel his dinner invite to BJP leaders, including Narendra Modi, in 2010.
"He is denying what everybody says. He has crossed all limites," he said.
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