PATNA: Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly on Friday exuded confidence that people of Bihar would get rid of the NDA rule in the state assembly elections due in October-November this year.
Talking to the media before leaving for state assembly to attend the ongoing budget session of state legislature, Tejashwi launched a blistering attack on chief minister Nitish Kumar. He said the latter has neither a vision nor a road map for development.
In response to a media query, the former deputy chief minister said he has great respect for Nitish.
“But he is unable to run the government now. He is a tired man,” he expressed, adding that the Opposition grand alliance would form the next government.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is a major ally of the grand alliance in Bihar.
"People of Bihar gave 20 years to Nitish Kumar. But they are tired of him now and want to get rid of him. They say it’s enough,” he told the media.
When asked about the recent cabinet expansion, Tejashwi said that it’s the chief minister’s prerogative to expand his cabinet whenever he feels the requirement.
"It is the last expansion of his cabinet as NDA will be wiped out in the 2025 assembly elections,” he asserted.
He alleged that it was not the NDA government’s cabinet expansion but the expansion of the BJP. He said that the BJP was trying to damage JD(U)’s prospects.
“There are several leaders of JD(U) who were in touch with BJP, and they are the real threat for Nitish Kumar’s party,” he added.
The former deputy chief minister also alleged that Bihar has a double-engine government for the last 10 years (barring 17 months of grand alliance rule). However, people are still grappling with problems like unemployment, migration, inflation and farmers’ poor income.
He also accused Nitish of not being able to interact with people. “There is a communication gap between the CM and the masses. He has distanced himself from common people. He is no longer a popular leader,” he claimed.
He also exuded confidence that the NDA would remain out of power for at least 10 years after the assembly elections.
Reacting to Nitish’s son Nishant Kumar entry into politics, Tejashwi said that he (Nishant) should join politics."However, several leaders of JD(U)-BJP were not in favour of this,” he alleged.
