Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday snubbed the RJD, headed by his arch-rival Lalu Prasad, stating that he had forged alliances "by mistake" with the Opposition party which "did nothing" while in power.
The JD(U) supremo made the remark days after Prasad, a former CM himself, had claimed that the RJD was keeping its "doors open" for the former ally, who is now back in the BJP-led NDA.
Talking to reporters in the north Bihar district of Muzaffarpur, as part of a state-wide Pragati Yatra, Kumar said, "Those who were in power before us... did they do anything? People used to fear stepping out of their homes after sunset. I had by mistake aligned with them a couple of times." "What was the condition of women back then? Today you can see these self-help groups, which we gave the name 'Jivika'. The Centre replicated our model and called it 'Ajivika'. Did you see such confident rural women earlier?" asked the longest-serving CM of the state.
Kumar, however, did not take questions about the cryptic "offer" from Prasad, which was made light of by the RJD supremo's son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, but endorsed by ally Congress.
Prasad's comments had come in the backdrop of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's equivocal stance on projecting Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate in the assembly polls due in less than a year.
State BJP leaders, on their part, have been maintaining that the JD(U) supremo will be the "face" of the NDA in the 2025 assembly elections.
The BJP, which fell short of a majority in the Lok Sabha polls, depends on allies like JD(U) and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's TDP to survive in power at the Centre.
Meanwhile, the CM inaugurated and laid foundation stones for 76 developmental projects/schemes worth Rs 451.40 Crore in Muzaffarpur during his visit to the district on Sunday.
According to a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office, “The CM chaired a meeting to review the ongoing developmental schemes of the state government at the district collectorate. Subrata Sen, District Magistrate of Muzaffarpur, gave a detailed presentation about the ongoing projects and schemes in the district before the CM." Kumar was briefed about the ongoing schemes, including Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme, Chief Minister Nishchay Self Help Allowance Scheme, tap water to every house and their maintenance, Chief Minister Rural Solar Street Light scheme, irrigation water to every farm, Chief Minister Agricultural Electricity Connection Scheme in the district.
"The meeting was attended by the elected representatives of the district also. The CM instructed the officials to resolve issues raised by the elected representatives in the meeting at the earliest," the statement said.
The CM announced in the meeting that a ring road will be constructed in the eastern part of Muzaffarpur at the earliest to ease traffic congestion in the city.
"Besides, a Road Over Bridge will also be constructed at Ramdayalu crossing in the city. Beautification work will be carried out by the concerned departments. A four-lane road will be constructed from Bankarpur (Saran) to Dumariya Ghat (Gopalganj),” Kumar said.
Besides, an announcement was also made that the auditorium which is being constructed in the Daudpur Kothi area will be named after former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
