Ravi Shankar Prasad in Patna on Thursday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, July 4: The BJP has sharpened its attack on former ally Nitish Kumar, likening him to Lalu Prasad and alleging he has “betrayed” not only the joint mandate given to the NDA but also the fight against corruption.

“By befriending the Congress and falling silent on a series of scams, Sonia Gandhi’s party colleagues and ministers are involved in, Nitish has simply forgotten the issue of corruption,” BJP’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad told The Telegraph. “Nitish and Lalu are vying with each other to jump into the Congress’s lap.”

It wasn’t long ago that the BJP held Nitish up as an exemplar of public probity and integrity. Nitish’s decision to break ties in mid-June has evidently left the BJP bitter and ready to bite. The comparison to Lalu, who faces the prospect of conviction in the fodder scam, is evidence that the BJP will upscale its criticism of Nitish.

If more proof were required that the BJP is spoiling for a battle, it came from Prasad himself. Asked if his party was going to make a hero of the BJP campaign committee chief, Narendra Modi, in Bihar, Prasad said: “The people of India will make Narendra Modi a hero. He is the most popular, able and honest leader on the Indian firmament. There is a wave sweeping across the country in Modi’s favour. The wave will turn into a tornado during the Lok Sabha polls.”

Prasad, who has been touring the districts to lay the ground for the BJP’s “Hunkar Rally” in October, revealed that the party was going to particularly focus on the seats contested by Nitish’s JD(U) as part of the severed alliance. “I can tell you that there is tremendous goodwill swelling on the ground for Narendra Modi and the news for Mr Nitish Kumar is bad. People are angry with his governance record and the manner in which he has betrayed the mandate, he will get a stunning reply in the elections,” Prasad said.

He argued out that “exigencies of politics” had driven Nitish to a “lame duck” existence and robbed him of “moral and effective strength” to fight against corruption. “The BJP, with its 91 MLAs, was a pillar of strength to what the NDA under his (Nitish’s) stewardship stood for in the state. He had lost the political spine that he had as long as he was with the BJP,” Prasad argued.

“We simply pity the situation he has fallen in,” Prasad added, recalling, “Not long ago Nitish used to say that the Congress is a past master in the art of jugad technology (manipulation). Now, he has befriended the party which he despised all along. He is all set to face the crisis of credibility as he is now himself involved in jugad technology to keep his minority government afloat.”

Asked about the BJP’s future plan of action in Bihar, Prasad said: “It is simple. We have been fighting against the Congress’s misrule and corruption. We will continue with our battle against corruption. The new thing is our former ally (JD-U) too has joined the bandwagon of the Congress. So, he (Nitish) too will face the music.”

The BJP leader said now that party leaders were “free from government responsibilities”, they would spread out to the heartland to “apprise the people about how Nitish has betrayed their mandate”.