Nitish Kumar’s jibe at Rahul Gandhi: Worried about his own employment

A day after Congress president Rahul Gandhi promised minimum income guarantee while addressing a rally in Patna, Chief minister Nitish Kumar took a swipe at him saying “He is more worried about his own employment”.

Speaking to reporters after his weekly Lok Samvad programme, the JD(U) president also mocked Gandhi’s promise to grant central university status for Patna University if the UPA came to power at the Centre after the Lok Sabha polls. “I would like to ask what prevented the UPA government from granting central university status for Patna University. This is election time and anything can be promised,” he said.

Kumar also Rahul Gandhi had lost his aura after joining hands with those facing corruption charges. “People are not going to stand behind leaders who make a compromise on corruption,” he said, alluding to the tie-up between the Congress and the RJD.

Reacting on the Bihar bandh called by Grand Alliance in protest against the lathi charge on RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha on Saturday, the chief minister said, “It was another instance to whip up passion ahead of polls for electoral gains.”

“Police were deliberately provoked to use force. Demonstrators were the first to hit them and they retaliated. It was all on electronic channels. I have witnessed such instances during my student days,” Kumar said.

The CM refrained from making a direct comment on West



Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee’s dharna against the CBI action but conceded “anything can happen in the country” during the month preceding announcement of poll dates.

“Lok Sabha polls are approaching. In the poll season, nobody seems to care for the country. There is an atmosphere of bitterness and tension. Everybody is concerned about votes. All actions are directed at gathering media attention for electoral gains and it will become more pronounced in the next one month,” Kumar said.

On being asked whether the deadlock would lead to imposition of President’s Rule in West Bengal, Kumar said, “I don’t see that it can be done so easily now.”

“Imposition of President’s Rule was easy during Congress’s heyday. It was imposed in 2005 in the state too. But successive Supreme Court rulings have changed the scenario. It is not as easy as it used to be in the past,” he said.

Asked whether he would have reacted like West Bengal counterpart in event of his state police chief being embroiled in similar controversy, Kumar shot back “do you think I will have a DGP with such a record?”

Kumar, however, said emotive electoral ploys were temporary and would start settling with the announcement of polls dates and imposition of model code of conduct by the Election Commission. “Till then, anything can happen. We need to watch and handle these things with patience,” he said.