PATNA: Union Minister Amit Shah on Saturday sent out a strong message to alliance partner JD-U that the saffron party was ready to aggressively pursue nationalism and Hindutva in Bihar. Shah was attending an event in the memory of the 1857 uprising hero Veer Kunwar Singh at Jagdishpur in Bhojpur district. The programme, organised by the BJP with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha election, was attended by a 70,000-plus crowd.
Though Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was not invited to the event, he received Shah at Patna airport where the two leaders held a brief meeting. BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal was also present at the meeting, which lasted for about half an hour.While addressing the event at Jagdishpur, Shah announced a memorial for Veer Kunwar Singh. Taking a dig at historians of yesteryear, Shah said they (historians) did not do justice to Singh.
The aggressive posturing by BJP on nationalism and Hindutva will only leave Nitish in a dilemma as the chief minister is very conscious about his secular credentials, remarked political analyst Pramod Kumar.“The BJP in any case will pursue its politics at full throttle across the country ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and Bihar will be no exception,” said a senior saffron party leader requesting anonymity.