Nitish Kumar returns Rs 5 cr to Gujarat in rebuff to Modi

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar today sought to rebuff his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi by returning the Rs five crore aid given by him for the Kosi flood victims, drawing sharp attack from BJP and other parties like Congress, RJD and LJP.Kumar, who was angry after local papers last week carriedadvertisements about the help given by the Gujarat governmentfor the 2008 Kosi flood victims, returned the money, which waslying unspent in the CM's relief fund, officials said.The Bihar chief minister had described Modi government's claim of liberal donation as "uncivilised".Reacting to Kumar's decision to return the money, the Gujarat government said the move was "unfortunate". 

"The decision is unfortunate," Gujarat minister and government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas told reporters in Dwarka in Gujarat. The assistance was given as a token of brotherly affection, he said.BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said in Delhi that thefunds were given in a spirit of solidarity and empathy withthe flood victims. "I wonder if only the money is being returned or the feeling of empathy, solidarity and spirit of togetherness too," Sitharaman said.Hitting out at Kumar, actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha said it reflected the JD(U) leader's "arrogance".The BJP Lok Sabha member from Patna Saheb said Kumar'saction seems to be inspired by his overwhelming concern forminority votes in the coming Bihar Assembly elections.Terming the decision as "arbitrary", he said the money did not belong either to Kumar or Modi but was meant for flood victims. He urged BJP president Nitin Gadkari and leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj to immediately call Kumar's "bluff".Senior BJP leader and Bihar minister Giriraj Singh said Kumar's decision was "uncultured". The return of the funds was "against Constitutional prestige", he said adding, "It reflects an uncultured decision." 

The Bihar chief minister had also taken strong exception to the use of a photograph showing him holding Modi's hand in another advertisement published in local dailies and had even threatened to take legal action against those responsible. 

But despite the spat between Kumar and Modi, JD-U chief Sharad Yadav asserted that the party's alliance with the BJP in Bihar would continue. "The ties between the two parties are old and they will continue. There is no question of any break-up," he said. Assembly polls in Bihar are just a few months away.Yadav said the "unpleasantness" over the publication of Kumar's photograph with that of Modi was over the very day it had appeared and pointed out that the two parties had fought the just-concluded the Rajya Sabha polls together.RJD chief Lalu Prasad too had a dig at his arch rival saying Kumar's decision was "nothing but an absurdity." 

He also wanted to know from the chief minister as to where had he parked the money. "Where have you kept the money andwhy did you not spend the amount received in 2008?"Criticising Kumar, Ahmed Patel, senior Congress leader andpolitical advisor to Sonia Gandhi, said, "He (Kumar) shouldhave thought before returning the fund that this money doesnot belong to any leader. This is the money given by people ofGujarat to people of Bihar."He also attacked the Gujarat chief minister saying heshould not have instigated Kumar by giving advertisements inBihar.Another senior Congress leader and Union minister SubodhKant Sahay dubbed the Bihar chief minister's decision as "anelection stunt"."It is nothing, but a political and election stunt," he said and described Kumar and Modi as the two faces of the samecoin.He said the Bihar chief minister's face as a secular politician stood exposed after he aligned with the BJP to run a coalition government in Bihar. 

"Muslims will never fall prey to such a sinister political game plan," Sahay said.

LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan also ridiculed Kumar and accused him of enacting a "drama" by returning the money."The act of returning money is just a drama and an attempt to woo Muslim voters," Paswan told reporters in Delhi.He also dared Kumar to say that the poster in which he is seen with Modi is fake."I want to ask him whether the photograph in which he is seen with Modi is fake. He (Kumar) should also explain why he did not resign from the NDA government after the Godhra communal clashes. I was also a minister in the NDA government but I immediately quit protesting Modi's role," he said.However, Bihar minister Devesh Thakur defended Kumar'sdecision saying JD(U) did not want to spoil its secular image.Kumar, who has kept Modi, the hardline Hindutva face of BJP, at an arm's length apparently to woo Muslim voters, had opposed using the Gujarat Chief Minister in its campaign in Bihar during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls after he had received flak for the 2002 Gujarat riots.