Giriraj's demand of Bharat Ratna for Nitish creates flutter in Bihar

He praised Nitish for pulling Bihar out of 'jungle raj' and said mismanagement, crumbling infrastructure and declining public services marked RJD chief Lalu Prasad's regime.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. File Photo | PTI

PATNA: In an interesting turn of events ahead of the state assembly elections, Union minister and senior BJP leader Giriraj Singh on Wednesday demanded the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, for Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik.

Giriraj, who is currently in his parliamentary constituency Begusarai after the winter session of Parliament came to end, told media persons that both Nitish and Patnaik did transformative works in their respective states during their tenure and deserved to be felicitated with the Bharat Ratna.

He praised Nitish for pulling Bihar out of what he referred as 'jungle raj' (era of lawlessness) and said that mismanagement, crumbling infrastructure and declining public services marked the RJD chief Lalu Prasad's regime.

"Bihar was known for decrepit roads, schools and buildings until the ascent to power of Nitish Kumar, who took the state to new heights. Likewise, Naveen Patnaik served Odisha for many years. Leaders like them deserve the highest honour, like Bharat Ratna," he said.

Giriraj said that the contributions of these leaders should be recognised at the national level as their efforts have impacted the lives of millions of people and also set benchmarks in governance.

The demand of the Begusarai MP has, however, left many leaders surprised as Giriraj has been critical of Nitish's style of functioning as the chief minister of the state. Giriraj, on several occasions, assailed the Bihar CM for bureaucratic interference and babudom prevailing in the government offices.

Giriraj softened his stance against Nitish after the BJP Core Committee's meeting in which he said, "Nitish Kumar is our leader and he will remain so." The demand to confer Bharat Ratna to Nitish assumed significance in the wake of Union home minister Amit Shah's recent statement during an interview with a TV channel that the Bihar CM's name will be decided at the meeting of the parliament board of the respective parties after the assembly elections.

Shah's twisted comment didn't go down well in JD(U) circles and they reiterated in unison that the next assembly elections would be fought under the leadership of Nitish Kumar. Earlier, BJP leaders had also said on several occasions that the ruling NDA in Bihar will contest the assembly polls under Nitish's leadership.

While the JD(U) and its allies welcomed the Union minister's demand, the main opposition RJD said that it was a misleading statement as Giriraj being a minister at the Centre was asking for the Bharat Ratna award from his own government.

"How misleading is it? One can easily understand their gameplan. The truth is that they (BJP) want to throw Nitish from power as happened in Maharashtra recently," RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari told the media.

On the other hand, JD(U) leader Neeraj Kumar welcomed the Union minister's demand. "Our party has also said on several occasions that Bharat Ratna should be conferred upon Nitish Kumar for his splendid work in every field," he said. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Chirag Paswan also hailed the BJP leader's demand.