Patna, April 16: Chief minister Nitish Kumar today sent out a clear message that he would not allow the governance - his USP - to suffer after his JDU's merger with Lalu Prasad's RJD and other offshoots of the Janata parivar.
"The merger of the parties will have little impact on the functioning of the government in Bihar. The government will keep on working on the agenda of ' susashan (governance)'," he said.
Nitish has consciously been trying to drive home the message that the amalgamation of the RJD and the JDU would not alter his style of functioning as the chief minister. He has been doing so, probably, to counter the BJP's repeated allegation about the return of jungle raj II in the state with Lalu joining hands with Nitish.
Nitish won two successive elections in the state (2005 and 2010) in alliance with the BJP on the plank of liberating the state from the "reign of anarchy". Top BJP leaders visiting Bihar never miss the opportunity to remind people about the Lalu-Rabri era, which "symbolised" misrule and absence of governance.
After returning from New Delhi, Nitish spoke to the reporters at the state hangar and said: "The government would keep on functioning the way it functions. The government is focused on the agenda of good governance and development. And whatever time is left before the elections, I shall keep on working for the betterment of the state."
Nitish said his government was surviving on the support of the RJD, Congress, CPI and an Independent MLA. Apart from the JDU, which has 111 MLAs, Nitish has the unconditional support of 24 RJD legislators, five Congress MLAs, one CPI and an Independent MLA.
Nitish's claim of no impact on the governance has hardly impressed the BJP, though. Senior party leader and the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Nand Kishore Yadav, told The Telegraph: "Nitish does not have any moral right to talk about good governance and development when he is with the RJD. People of the state are aware about its (RJD's) past deeds."
Nand Kishore added: "As far as impact on the governance is concerned, it is very much clear from the fact that the chief minister is forced to hold a separate talk with RJD MLAs. For what is he meeting the RJD MLAs separately? Everyday Nitish is compromising with good governance and development."
A few days back, Nitish did hold a meeting with the RJD MLAs in which he asked them to stick to the agenda of governance. Five cabinet colleagues of Nitish yesterday held a meeting with the RJD MLAs at his 7 Circular Road residence.
Countering the BJP's jibe at the reunion of the Janata parivar, Nitish took a dig at the BJP for making a mockery of the merger and said: "The BJP people are afraid, they know that this merger has weakened them. They are making fun of it to hide their fear."
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav made the official announcement of the merger in Delhi on Wednesday. Apart from SP, the other five parties which have come together include the RJD, JDU, H.D. Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular), Abhay Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal and the Samajwadi Janata Party (SJP).
Nitish also slammed the BJP national president, Amit Shah, over his comment on sugar mills in the state during the party's workers' meet on April 14. Shah had alleged that the state government had given land of 12 sugar mills for constructing shopping malls on them.
"Shah must tell where the malls have been constructed on the land of sugar mills. He must also release the pictures of such malls if he is claiming so. He is either ignorant about the facts or making false statement," said Nitish.
