Patna: Former Bihar Assembly Speaker and the JDU's Dalit face, Uday Narayan Choudhary, once a close aide of Nitish Kumar, is now a bitter critic of the chief minister.
Choudhary is continuously criticising Nitish, questioning his decisions like breaking the Grand Alliance, and supporting RJD chief Lalu Prasad. At public meetings, Choudhary has pouring vitriol against Nitish who had given him two full terms as Speaker. "I am not criticising. I am just stating the reality," Choudhary told The Telegraph. "The definition and standard of corruption in the state has changed since Nitish has gone with the BJP. You are 'honest' if you are with it (BJP), you are 'dishonest' if you are against it."
He pointed out that Bengal politician Mukul Roy was corrupt and had CBI cases against him till he was with Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, but has become honest after joining the BJP recently.
"BJP is distributing the certificate of corruption and honesty. Lalu has been framed by the new power combine," he said.
Political pundits, however, claim Choudhary is miffed at not being accommodated in the new government.Choudhary had lost the Lok Sabha election from Jamui to the LJP's Chirag Paswan. Choudhary then became a Grand Alliance candidate on a JDU ticket from Imamganj in Gaya district during the 2015 Assembly polls, but lost to HAMS leader Jitan Ram Manjhi.
"The options before Nitish are very limited and if Manjhi remains in NDA, even the JDU will not be able to give the Imamganj seat to Choudhary, and will also be the most important Dalit face of the new combine. All this seem to be weighing on the mind of the former Speaker," said a senior JDU leader.
Choudhary rejected the allegations: "My anger with Nitish is not due to this, but due to the fact that Bihar is not getting any money from Centre for public welfare schemes. The state hasn't even got compensation for floods this year."
He asserted he was still with JDU but said he did not know what the future holds.
JDU spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said: "Choudhary should understand that the person (read Lalu) by whom he is being inspired is the person during whose tenure Dalits were massacred in the state." Neeraj denied the JDU was considering any action against Choudhary.
