BJP hits out at Nitish Kumar for attacking Amit Shah

Retaliating to Nitish Kumar's barbs on BJP and party president Amit Shah over Yoga Day celebrations, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday termed the chief minister's remark as "inappropriate" saying it was an outcome of his "shallow mindset".

"The Bihar Chief Minister has made an inappropriate remark against BJP chief Amit Shah to showcase his shallow mindset," former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said in a statement. Kumar had on Saturday attacked the BJP for seeking cheap publicity in promotion of the International Yoga Day and advised Shah to do regular yoga to stay fit.

The former deputy chief minister said Kumar has perhaps lost his "mental balance" owing to plummeting electoral base, rising crime rate and squeezing growth rate at the fag end of his term. Making a personal attack on Kumar for claiming that he was a regular yoga practitioner, Modi asked if it was so then why was he (Kumar) not able to overcome the habit of chewing tobacco?

It was due to his tobacco chewing addiction that the chief minister never took part in tobacco prohibition campaign so far, the senior BJP leader alleged. Observing that as many as 177 countries have accepted yoga as a fitness regime, he asked Kumar as to why was the state government not organising a function on June 21 at the request of the Centre if he believed in the virtues of the fitness regime?

When the entire world will be participating on the International Yoga Day on June 21 next, will there be no official event in Bihar for promotion of the fitness regime? Modi asked. Further reacting to the chief minister's "56-inch chest" remarks aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP leader said that Kumar was "finding fault" even at the military's success.

The Army operation against the insurgents in northeast was aimed at sending out a terse message of zero tolerance to the insurgents and militants operating against India, he said. Kumar had yesterday taken potshots at the Prime Minister for over the reported waving of ISIS and Pakistani flags in Jammu and Kashmir and criticised the Centre for taking credit for Army's successful operation against insurgents in Myanmar.