Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asserted Sunday that the ruling NDA is and will remain united in the state, dispelling ‘confusions’ that had arisen in the wake of his recent meeting with RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav followed by some opposition Grand Alliance leaders beckoning him to cross over.
Addressing a ‘karyakarta sammelan’ of the Janata Dal (United), of which he is the national president, Kumar exhorted party workers to strive towards ensuring the NDA’s win in ‘more than 200 seats’ when elections to the 243-member Bihar assembly are held this year.
Disapproving of political ‘controversies’ around the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which his party had supported in Parliament, Kumar called for ‘patience’ as the matter was sub-judice.
Anxieties in some sections of society, particularly among the minorities, have been addressed with a resolution passed by the Bihar Assembly against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and insertion of contentious clauses in National Population Register (NPR) forms, Kumar informed.
The JD(U) chief also reiterated his commitment towards ensuring justice and welfare of all, including minorities, and slammed the opposition Congress-RJD combine, which keeps attacking him over his alliance with the BJP, by recalling the Bhagalpur riots of 1989 that had claimed over 1,000 lives.
“It is well known who was in power when the riots took place and how justice eluded the victims for 15 years thereafter. We brought the guilty to book and justice was ensured to the victims. I am more concerned about working for the minorities than getting their votes,” said Kumar as he highlighted the various schemes being run by his government for minority communities.
The chief minister, who spoke for close to an-hour-and-a-half, also dwelt at length on his government’s accomplishments with regard to improving law and order, and bringing in all round development.
Kumar asked party workers to apprise the common people about the same and debunk the opposition’s propaganda.
On allegations of deterioration in law and order levelled by opposition parties and the concern expressed of late by ally Chirag Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party, the chief minister quoted National Crime Records Bureau statistics to suggest that the crime rate in Bihar, when taken into account in proportion to the population, was among the lowest in the country.
Sore over widespread criticism of the poor health and education scenario in the state, Kumar highlighted his government’s success in reducing school dropout rates and mentioned the adulation from Microsoft founder Bill Gates who, during his visit to Patna last year, had praised the state’s efforts towards ‘fighting poverty and disease’.
The chief minister, who will aim at a fourth consecutive term in power in the Assembly elections due by November, urged his party’s workers to draw inspiration from the NDA’s stupendous performance in the Lok Sabha polls last year when the BJP, the JD(U) and the LJP had together won 39 out of the 40 seats in Bihar.
PTI
