Nitish fires "8-9 kids" jibe; Tejashwi retorts with 'mentally tired' barb
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar fired another salvo at RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, though without naming him, saying no development can be expected from people producing 8-9 kids for a son, inviting a strong retort from Tejashwi Yadav who said the JD(U) boss is tired -- both mentally and physically .
Kumar used the slur at an election meeting at Mahnar in Vaishali district Monday.
"Kisi ko chinta hain. 8-9 bachha paida karte hain. Beti par bharosa nahi hai. 7-8 beti ho jane ke bad ladka hua. Kaisa Bihar Banana chahte hain...agar logo ka yahi aadarsh hain to Bihar ka kya hoga."
"Does anybody care? They produce 8-9 kids. They have no faith on daughters. They had 7-8 daughters before a son. What kind of Bihar they want to make? If this is their ideal, what will happen to Bihar? Kumar said, without naming anybody but his obvious target was RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, who have nine children.
Reacting to Kumar's statement, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav told reporters in Patna Tuesday that by making such comments Kumar is targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has 5-6 brothers and sisters."
Yadav further said he takes Kumar's "abuses too as "blessings .
He said the chief minister's remark was an affront to the dignity of his mother as well as to other women's. He is tired both physically and mentally. And hence he is making such remarks, Yadav said.
In the same Mahnar election meeting, Kumar explained to people as to why he left the Grand Alliance in 2017 just two years after forming a government with the RJD and Congress in 2015.
"I told him (Tejashwi) to come clean on a charge levelled against him in a money laundering case. He could not. Soon, I realised they have returned to their old habits of influencing even police stations and so I thought it's difficult to work with them and walked out of the alliance," Kumar said.
He had dumped the grand alliance in July 2017, barely two years after forming government of the opposition coalition in Bihar in 2015. Soon, he joined hands with the BJP and led the NDA ministry in the state since then.
Kumar also slammed the RJD for "humiliating" its founding member Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, allegedly forcing him to quit the party before his death last month.
"Raghuvansh babu was with them since the beginning in 1990 but how they treated him. These people are bothered only about their wife, sons and daughters," Kumar said, attacking Prasad, who is lodged in a jail in Ranchi after conviction in four cases of fodder scam.
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh's son Satya Prakash Singh, who has joined the JD(U) since his father's death, also hit out at Prasad's family for "mistreating my father in his last days.
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CPI(M) rebel Kunhikrishnan hopes for 5,000-vote win in Payyanur
Kannur (Kerala) (PTI): CPI(M) rebel candidate V Kunhikrishnan, who contested as a UDF-backed Independent from Payyanur here, on Saturday said he was hoping to win the Assembly election by a margin of 5,000 votes.
Kunhikrishnan was expelled from the CPI(M) earlier this year after raising allegations of corruption in the party’s martyrs’ fund against sitting MLA T I Madhusoodanan.
Speaking to a TV channel, Kunhikrishnan said he had announced his candidature as a mark of protest and not with expectations of victory.
However, he said the situation had changed drastically, with a strong undercurrent within CPI(M) votes favouring him.
"The undercurrent in CPI(M) votes cannot be measured. Now people are giving a response indicating victory with a margin of at least 5,000 votes," he said.
Payyanur is considered a CPI(M) stronghold, and a defeat for Madhusoodanan there would be a major setback for the party.
On political violence in Payyanur, Kunhikrishnan said he had been facing it since filing his nomination.
"The people leading this violence should think about how long they can continue it. It is the police which has to take the initiative to stop this violence as part of maintaining law and order. But the police are not intervening at the required level," he said.
Regarding his political future, Kunhikrishnan said efforts were underway to strengthen Left groups, and discussions were being held across Kerala in that regard.
"After discussing with others, a decision will be taken," he said.
Kunhikrishnan is among six former CPI(M) leaders who either exited the party or were suspended before contesting for the UDF in the April 9 Assembly elections.
Elections to the 140-seat Kerala Assembly were held on April 9, and the counting of votes will be held on May 4.
