PATNA: A day after BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi dubbed the meeting of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekar Rao as the "latest comedy show of opposition unity", the JD(U) supremo on Thursday claimed that no one takes the saffron party leader seriously and what he said did not matter.
Kumar, talking to reporters, also said that the BJP leader's constant criticism of the new Bihar government and him might find him favour with the saffron party's top brass "Who takes him (Modi) seriously. Even his party does not. Let him say whatever he wants to say. Since he is saying something against me almost every day, he may find a place for himself at the Centre," said the CM.
Modi had on Wednesday termed the meeting of both the CMs in Patna as a "get-together of two daydreamers" and the "latest comedy show of opposition unity".
He also quipped that "it is a meeting of two leaders who are losing their base in their respective states and harbouring the desire to become the prime minister of the country. It is a meeting of two daydreamers who stand nowhere before Prime Minister Narendra Modi".
Asked about the rejection of bail application of RJD leader and former state law minister Kartik Kumar by a local court in Mokama in an abduction case, the CM said, "There was no need to comment on that matter anymore as Singh has resigned from state cabinet".
Controversial RJD leader Kartik Kumar, whose induction in the Nitish Kumar government despite alleged involvement in a criminal case had drawn criticism from the opposition, was shifted from law to sugarcane department on Wednesday.
Later that day, he resigned as minister.
In a swipe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday said the "sponsors of the so-called Opposition coalition" are roaming around with a "veil of sushasan babu" and a "bag of kushasan babu".
Naqvi's remarks came a day after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao undertook a whirlwind tour of the Bihar capital where he met top political leaders in the state and also gave a call for "BJP mukt Bharat".
At a press conference that he addressed with his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav by his side, the Telangana chief minister, who is popularly known as 'KCR', invoked the memory of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan's "Kranti" (revolution) against "tanashahi" (dictatorship) to stress the need for a united opposition to take on the BJP's hegemony.
Speaking with reporters here, Naqvi likened the efforts of Opposition parties to forge a coalition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "putting stitches of sin" on "box of corruption".
The "sponsors of so-called Opposition coalition" are roaming around with the "veil of sushasan (good governance) babu" and the "bag of kushasan (misgovernance) babu", the former Union minister said.
JD(U)'s Kumar is often referred to as "Sushasan babu" by his admirers and supporters.
Naqvi said that the Opposition's "dream" of removing Modi in the "Amrit Kaal" is like "biting more than one can chew".
'Amrit Kaal' is a "festival for the honest and hard-working", but is a "troubling time for sinners and hypocrites".
'Amrit Kaal' is a term the government often uses to refer to the period between now and 2047 when India will be celebrating 100 years of Independence.