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Mallikarjun Kharge in Bihar: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that there is doubt that JD(U) president and longest serving Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will get support for another term.
Mallikarjun Kharge in Bihar: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday rejected Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah’s prediction of NDA’s victory in the Bihar assembly elections. Said that his claim of more than 400 in the Lok Sabha elections also proved wrong. He spoke to PTI Video in Gayaji. He asserted that all is not well in the BJP-led alliance as there are doubts whether JD(U) president and longest-serving Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will get the support for another term. Kharge said that the Prime Minister can say anything. Before the Lok Sabha elections he kept saying that it would cross 400. He pointed to the BJP’s performance in last year’s general elections, when it fell short of a majority and depended on allies like JD(U) and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP to remain in power.
Grand alliance will come to power
When Kharge’s attention was drawn to the fact that Modi’s most trusted aide and BJP’s key strategist Shah was claiming that the NDA’s seats in the 243-member Bihar Assembly could exceed 160, the Congress president said, “I would say again that you keep in mind his claim of crossing 400 which has been dashed.” Kharge was incensed by the Prime Minister’s claim that the Congress was hesitant in nominating RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as the India Bloc’s chief ministerial candidate, but relented when a ‘katta’ was placed on his head. He said that no one can scare us, not even the Prime Minister. Said that ‘Grand Alliance’ will come to power in Bihar.
Modi’s claims of victory rejected
Said that Modi should tell us whether Trump had put a pistol on his head. The reference was to the US President’s repeated claims that India had agreed to stop military conflict with Pakistan following his intervention earlier this year. Kharge also asked why it is that Modi and Shah have not yet declared Nitish Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate? They cannot claim that the NDA will come back to power if there is no consensus on the leadership. In a separate conversation with PTI Video, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal also expressed doubt over the claims by Modi and Shah of winning Bihar with more than 160 seats. There was talk of providing two crore jobs every year and bringing back black money stashed abroad. All these were sheer lies.
Also read: PM Modi’s attack in Bihar: Said- ‘Katta Raj’ will return if Grand Alliance government comes to power
