Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday congratulated Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav for the Grand Alliance’s performance in the Bihar Assembly elections. Singh also urged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to quit regional politics as it had become “too small” for him.
“Nitishji, Bihar has become too small for you...you should enter the national political scene,” the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said in a series of tweets in Hindi. “Bring those who believe in socialism, secularism together, and don’t allow Sangh’s borrowed policy of divide and rule to flourish. Think about it.”
He added that the Bharatiya Janata Party was like a vine that takes the “support of another tree and flourishes while the tree dries out”. He further said that the saffron party had reduced Kumar’s status with kootneeti [strategy]. “Give up the BJP-RSS ideology and bless Tejashwi. Don’t let this vine-like BJP grow in Bihar,” he added.
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The senior Congress leader also praised former party chief Rahul Gandhi for being the only politician championing the politics of ideology. “NDA’s allies must understand politics is ideology. Any person who abandons ideology and compromises for his selfishness due to his ambition, does not remain alive in politics for long.”
The BJP’s win of 74 seats in the Bihar Assembly elections gave rise to speculation over whether the saffron party would retain Kumar as the chief minister. The rumours about Kumar’s diminished clout in the state even forced the BJP to assert that he would come back in the chief ministerial position.
After a neck-and-neck battle that saw the National Democratic Alliance always in the lead no matter how slim the margin, the BJP-Janata Dal (United) combine won 125 seats to pave the way for a fourth successive term for Kumar in office. However, this was the first time that the saffron party had upstaged its ally in the state election. The Janata Dal (United) was able to secure only 43 seats. The party had won 71 seats in 2015, but was then allied with the Grand Alliance.
Earlier in the day, BJP leader and the current Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday reiterated that Kumar will remain the chief minister of Bihar as per the party’s commitment. The BJP has never ruled Bihar on its own.
Also read:
Bihar election takeaways: BJP’s successful ‘manage Nitish’ strategy, Tejashwi’s strong showing
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