On stage with Congress, Nitish, Tejashwi urge party to unite Opposition ‘before it’s too late’

Responding to Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah’s quip on Nitish’s “PM ambitions” — Shah addressed two rallies in the state on Saturday — the JD(U) chief said, “Meri koi khwaish nahi hai. Bas desh aage badhe [I have no desire (to become PM). I only want the country to progress].”

He added, “Just as we have come together in Bihar, we want similar Opposition unity in other states. If they do so, BJP would get less than 100 seats in 2024 (Lok Sabha polls).”

In his first major speech after recovering from a kidney transplant operation, RJD national president Lalu Prasad, who addressed the rally through virtual medium from Delhi, called BJP “a mask of RSS” and cautioned people from “minority” communities against BJP’s “bid to create division in the name of caste and religion”.

CPI(ML) national general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said the country now has to choose between the Gujarat model and the Bihar model.

In an indirect attack on Asaduddin Owaisi and his AIMIM, Nitish and Tejashwi also cautioned people of Seemanchal region against the BJP’s “B-team” without taking names. Four Lok Sabha constituencies in Seemanchal — Purnea, Kishanganj, Araria and Katihar — have high Muslim population.

Setting the tone of the rally, Nitish said: “After I severed ties with BJP in August last year, I received calls from several parties…. I am (still) waiting for a response from the Congress. The sooner it happens, the better it is. Jaldi karna hoga agar unhein bulandi chahiye, agar woh chahte hai mukti miley (the Congress has to respond fast if it wants a strong Opposition and wants to get rid of BJP)”.

Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah, he said, “Koi PM kahlata, koi grih mantri kahlata hai. Ek ek cheez par kabza kiye hue hai… (one is called PM, another the home minister. They have controlled everything…).”

Lalu said: “The BJP is not a party, it is a mask of the RSS. Narendra Modi has been doing what RSS wants him to do. It does not respect anything…(and is) trying to change the Constitution. If we come together, no one will be able to cause damage to democracy and the Constitution.”

Recalling how he had halted BJP veteran L K Advani’s rath yatra in 1990 — Lalu was the Bihar CM then — he said, “BJP is a party of (former RSS chief M S) Golwalkar. His book, ‘A Bunch of Thoughts’, had said two dangerous things: that a Dalit cannot be allowed in Kashi Vishwanath temple, and that reservation should be done away with…”

Taking a swipe at the BJP for propagating the government’s free ration scheme, Lalu said in his inimitable style: “The BJP has been saying that as if they have ploughed the land to grow those grains.”

On the occasion, the RJD chief also thanked his daughter, Rohini Archarya, for donating her kidney and said he would never be able to “repay the debt” of his daughter.

Tejashwi, welcomed with loud cheers by the crowd, said: “Bihar has the potential to lead the country. We want a similar alliance (among opposition parties at the national level) as we have in Bihar. We have different party flags but this divergent identity is our strength…. No one (among Opposition leaders) has the desire of becoming the PM or a CM. We stand strongly with CM Nitish Kumar. The 2024 Lok Sabha polls are against the RSS and the BJP.”

Lauding Nitish’s decision to break ties with the BJP, the RJD leader said, “The BJP has no leaders but only dealers these days.”

He also said, “The Congress should call all opposition parties to discuss (the question of putting up a united front)…. The BJP has not given us (Bihar) special category status…”

CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya said, “I see a great merit in Congress leader Salman Khurshid recent words, when he spoke about choosing between the Gujarat model and Bihar model. While Bihar model is about convergence of Mahagathbandhan and is a people’s movement, the Gujarat model is about violence. Bihar has also seen massacres but the way 2002 Gujarat riot was politicised, it had no parallel.”

Bhattacharya also criticised BJP for celebrating farmers’ icon Sahjanand Saraswati. “Those who are doing corporate zamindari are talking about farmers and labourers,” he said.

Bihar Congress chief and Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh said: “Our (Congress’s) Raipur convention is in progress. I have been sent specially to attend the Purnea rally to give (Congress’s) good wishes to Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav. BJP’s backbone was broken the moment Nitish Kumar took a decision to forge a secular front.”