Patna, July 15: Chief minister Nitish Kumar today referred to Narendra Modi’s statements over the past few days to justify snapping of ties with the BJP.
“The language which has been used during the last few days has only given strength to our stand of breaking off the alliance,” Nitish said at his weekly news conference.
Without naming the Gujarat chief minister, Nitish said the issues that had been raised (by Modi) were the ones over which he broke the 17-year-old alliance last month.
“I am convinced now that we did the right thing,” Nitish said in a veiled reference to his Gujarat counterpart’s statements and the controversy whipped up by his “puppy” and “burqa” references.
In an interview to Reuters last week, Modi, in an allusion to the 2002 Gujarat riots, said he would feel pain if a “kutte ka bachcha (puppy)” came under the wheels of a car in which he was riding in the backseat. Yesterday, while addressing students in Pune, Modi said the Congress always hid behind a “burqa (veil) of secularism” when things didn’t go its way and elections were round the corner.
The Congress today lashed back at Modi’s burqa barb. “The burqa of communalism is much better than naked communalism. While communalism divides, secularism binds,” Congress general secretary Ajay Maken told a specially convened news conference in New Delhi.
His party colleague and Union minister Manish Tewari said the choice before the people was an inclusive India or an India which is sectarian. “The vision of the Congress party is pluralistic and inclusive. And the vision of the section of the Opposition has been sectarian, majoritarian and communal right from the beginning,” Tewari said.
Yet another minister, Shashi Tharoor, also joined the debate, reminding Modi of his RSS pracharak days and saying a secularism burqa was preferable to the “khaki shorts of the Italian fascists which signify intolerance and hatred”.
Nitish, who has grown closer to the Congress over the months, spoke in the same language, though he stopped short of naming Modi. “Who has objections to wearing a burqa? It has social and cultural sanction. Making such statements does not result in votes. The people of India will not accept it,” the Bihar chief minister stressed.
He also commented on the TV interview of senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani that Lalu Prasad would support Modi if he (Jethmalani) told him to do so. “The cat is out of the bag. The RJD and BJP are indulging in shadow boxing publicly. Secretly they have allied with each other. Now that Lalu Prasad’s lawyer has said it, the charge we made about a RJD-BJP axis has been strengthened,” he said.
While taking potshots at his old ally, the chief minister came out in support of the UPA government on the food security ordinance. “Had it been a bill it would have been better. But the ordinance is for the country and I have directed the department concerned to prepare a list of beneficiaries,” he said.
Nitish though stressed that there had been no talks with the Congress on an alliance. “There is no need for any speculation. We form alliances on the basis of basic principles,” he said.
