Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said there is no fight between Hindus and Muslims and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of creating disturbances between the two communities for political benefits, PTI reported.
“There is no real Hindu-Muslim conflict in society,” Kumar said. “Some mischief-makers are there everywhere. A large number of Muslims chose to remain in India after the Partition in 1947.”
Kumar also urged Opposition parties in the country to unite and together to fight against the saffron party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“My only wish is that we [Opposition] all need to come together at the national level,” he said. “We need to bring together more parties.”
Kumar was speaking at a rally organised by the Indian National Lok Dal, a political party in Haryana, to mark former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal’s birth anniversary.
The rally was attended by Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, Shiromani Akali Dal’s Sukhbir Singh Badal, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury and Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav amongst others, according to ANI.
Kumar severed ties with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and formed a coalition government with the RJD and six other parties of the Grand Alliance in August. He was sworn as Bihar’s chief minister for the eighth time, while Yadav became his deputy.
During Sunday’s rally, Yadav said that the Janata Dal-United, Shiromani Akali Dali and the Shiv Sena left the saffron party to save the Constitution and democracy.
He accused the BJP of making false claims and promises and described the party as the “Badka Jhuta Party” (big lying party).
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said that all like-minded parties should unite under the flag of farmers and labourers and work for their welfare.
“The real NDA is sitting here, it was founded by Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and JD(U),” Badal said, according to PTI. “We stood by the BJP when it was a relatively smaller party.”
Meanwhile, Pawar alleged that the Centre did not take any steps to resolve the problems of the farmers. “Farmers were promised that MSP [minimum support price] will be provided but it was not given,” Pawar said. “The government promised to withdraw cases registered against farmers but did not fulfil it.”
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