Lalu Prasad asks Nitish Kumar to sever ties with BJP

Taking a potshot at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on the issue of advertisements showing his photograph with Narendra Modi, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad today asked the JD(U) leader to sever ties with BJP if he really had any objection to it.

Referring to Kumar's statement to media expressing resentment over the advertisements in newspapers here showing his photograph with the Gujarat chief minister, Prasad asked "what was new in that".

"In fact, Kumar who had said that he would not share platform with Modi after Gujarat riots, had later surfaced with him at a public meeting in Ludhiana at the time of last Lok Sabha polls," he said.

Kumar said he would take legal action against those responsible for the advertisement showing him and Modi and also termed as "uncivilised" Gujarat government's claim through another advertisement that it donated liberally to Bihar after the 2008 Kosi floods.

Accusing Kumar of indulging in "a high political drama" on the issue of advertisement, Prasad said he now stood exposed because of his alliance with a party which was "communal to the core".

"Nitish and Modi are two faces of the same coin. I had disallowed Modi to visit Bihar earlier, but now a drama is being enacted to frighten the minorities in Bihar by the state government (which is) allowing Modi's visit," Prasad said.

He alleged that it might be the national executive of the BJP but it has been "hosted" by none else than Nitish Kumar. 

"People of Bihar have identified the real face of Kumar. Nitish Kumar should leave the chair...sever ties with the BJP or else he should merge the entire JD(U) with the BJP instead of playing dirty secular cards," he said.

Referring to Kumar's statement that he would return the funds donated to Bihar CM's relief Fund at the time of floods caused by turbulent Kosi in 2008, Prasad said he should do it without much delay.