Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, whose party on Sunday lost power following Nitish Kumar’s latest volte-face, claimed that the Janata Dal (United) will be “finished” in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections that is scheduled in April-May this year.
Tejashwi, who was Nitish Kumar’s deputy until a few hours ago, on Sunday called the CM a “tired Chief Minister”. His comments came after Nitish severed ties with the Mahagathbandhan government, and formed a new government on Sunday with the support of the BJP. He was sworn-in as the CM of the state for the ninth time, and BJP leaders Vijay Sinha and Samrat Choudhary took oath as his deputies.
“Nitish Kumar seems to have a problem with me getting the credit for many achievements of our government. It should ring alarm bells for the BJP,” remarked Yadav.
“Nitishji is a respectable leader. He used to mock me when I was in the opposition for promising 10 lakh jobs during the 2020 state elections. I made him work in that direction,” Yadav said.
He added, “whatever may be the excuses Nitish ji makes for switching sides, his JD(U) is all set to be finished (khatam hone wala hai) in Lok Sabha polls”.
Yadav, the son of former CM Lalu Prasad Yadav further said that the exit of Kumar will make no change for the INDIA bloc, a grouping of 28 Opposition parties to take on the BJP-led NDA in the upcoming general elections.
“INDIA alliance is strong. Jo hota hai ache ke liye hota hai… (whatever happens, it is for good)” he added.
He also credited the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ grand alliance rule for the development of the state in the last 17 months.
“Why should we not take credit for the work we have done?…The CM who used to say that it is impossible to give jobs, we gave jobs and showed that it is possible. We brought new policies in tourism, IT, and sports. The work that was done in 17 months could not be done in 17 years (of BJP-JDU rule). We did historic work in the 17 months…” Yadav added.
“When Nitish Kumar was with us, he used to say that so much work is being done. Have you ever seen Nitish Kumar distributing appointment letters before? It was us who made him distribute appointment letters, and later the central government also followed us. We extend our congratulations to the BJP,” the RJD leader added.