Nitish Kumar's decision to form Mahagathbandhan govt 'slap on BJP's face: Tejashwi Yadav
New Delhi, Aug 12: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to form the Mahagathbandhan government was a "slap on the BJP's face" and a similar coming together of Opposition parties will be replicated across the country, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said on Friday after meeting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, who met Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence here, accused the BJP of working to finish regional parties and asserted that if they are finished, the Opposition and democracy will be finished as well.
Yadav, who also met CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja, said the pre-poll constituents of the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) have welcomed the decision by Nitish Kumar.
"This government will run strongly because this government is a government for the poor...it is the government of the people. The decision by Nitish Kumar at the right time, you can say, is a slap on the BJP's face," he told reporters outside 10 Janpath.
Yadav said all parties have joined hands against the BJP in the Bihar Assembly, and added "now this is going to be replicated across the whole country".
"People are suffering due to inflation. There are those who want to rule by creating Hindu-Muslim tensions, put the Constitution and democracy in danger, they want to break the brotherhood, Bihar has once again given a new direction to the country," he said.
"For that we thank the chief minister, Sonia Gandhi ji, Yechury ji, Dipankar ji(Bhattacharya, CPI-ML general secretary), Raja ji and Lalu (Prasad) ji," he said.
Yadav said Lalu Prasad fought against communal forces and social justice.
"He (Lalu) never got scared nor did he bow before such forces," Yadav added.
He accused the BJP of destroying regional parties, citing the happenings in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
"BJP wants to scare those who get scared and buy those who are willing to be bought out," Yadav alleged.
"Constitutional institutions are being destroyed. Be it Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation or Income Tax (Department), their condition is worse than police stations. Who do they want to scare? We, the people of Bihar, are not going to be scared. I have said 'Bihari bikaau nahi, tikaau hota hai' (People of Bihar cannot be bought out, they are reliable)," he said.
They will never compromise with their self-respect, Yadav said, adding Bihar and Nitish Kumar have shown this.
Alleging that the BJP wants to destroy regional parties, he said regional parties are mostly of backwards and Dalits and the BJP wants to finish such parties.
"You wanted to finish Nitish Kumar, you created division in Ram Vilas Paswan ji's party. If regional parties are finished, Opposition will be finished, democracy will be finished. If democracy is finished, the country will be run in a dictatorial manner," he said.
Yadav's visit to Delhi, the first to the national capital after taking the oath of office, also holds significance as Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad is here and the finalisation of names of ministers is set to be high on the agenda during discussions between the two.
The cabinet, which at present comprises only Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Yadav as his deputy, is due for expansion early next week.
Earlier, he met Yechury and Raja here and is learnt to have discussed the developments in Bihar as well as the way forward.
After the meeting, Yadav said in a tweet that he met the two Left leaders and had a positive discussion on the current social, economic and political scenario prevailing in the country and Bihar.
"Bihar, the land which gave birth to democracy, has again shown the way to the country," Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.
He also celebrated Raksha Bandhan with his sisters here.
Yadav is likely to be back in Bihar soon for the cabinet expansion expected immediately after Independence Day.
The expansion would be followed, later this month, by a special session of the assembly when the new government will prove its majority on the floor.
The RJD leader served as deputy chief minister of Bihar from 2015 to 2017.
Kumar and Yadav had taken oath on Wednesday, a day after the JD(U) snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD, the Congress and some other parties to form a Mahagathbandhan' government.
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Skipper Curran, bowlers lead PBKS to a five-wicket win over RR
Guwahati, May 15: Skipper Sam Curran played the lead act hitting a well-paced fifty and taking two wickets, as Punjab Kings consigned Rajasthan Royals to a five-wicket defeat in their IPL match here on Wednesday.
The target was a mere 145, but Kings made heavy weather of it on a sluggish track here but Curran (63 not out, 41b, 5x4, 3x6) had a calm head and skills to lift them to their fifth win of the season. PBKS made 145/5 in 18.5 overs.
The Englishman received good support from Jitesh Sharma (22, 20b) as the pair added 63 runs in a fluent fifth wicket partnership.
For Royals, it was their fourth defeat on the trot, but they remained second on the table with 16 points with a qualification to the playoffs to boot with.
The Kings’ chase began on a shaky note as they lost Prabhsimran Singh in the first over itself to Trent Boult.
But bigger jolts were in store as an impressive Avesh Khan (2/28) scalped two wickets in the fifth over.
The right-arm pacer first plucked the important wicket of Rilee Rossouw, who played some strong shots in his 13-ball 22, and then jettisoned in-form Shashank Singh for a two-ball naught.
Shashank failed to connect a fuller, straighter one from Avesh while attempting a flick, and the 141 kmph delivery thudded on his bat. Shashank did not even bother to use DRS as he walked away.
Punjab gained some ground through the alliance between Curran and Jitesh, who smoked R Ashwin for two sixes.
Curran too gave a dose of punishment to the veteran offie, lofting him for a wonderful six over extra cover.
But the blossoming stand was snapped by Yuzvendra Chahal (2/31), leaving PBKS at 111 for five in the 16th over.
However, Curran and Ashutosh Sharma (17 not out, 11 balls) knocked off the remaining runs without further drama.
Earlier, despite a well-tuned 48 from local hero Riyan Parag, RR struggled against an array of accurate bowlers on a rather slow pitch, meandering to a sub-par 144 for nine.
R Ashwin (28, 19b, 3x4, 1x6) and Parag (48, 34, 6x4) tried to accelerate during their 50-run stand for the fourth wicket but it could only bring in a temporary momentum for RR.
In fact, lethargy had set in very early in the Rajasthan innings after the early loss of Jaiswal, who chopped a Curran (2/24) delivery back on to his stumps.
Sanju Samson (18), who went past 500-run in a season for the first time in his IPL career, and Tom-Kohler Cadmore (18, 23b) stitched 36 runs for the second wicket but took six overs for it.
But with Curran and Arshdeep finding a hint of swing and maintaining a good line, scoring was not an easy proposition for the RR batters.
Eventually, Samson, who tried a hopping cut off pacer Nathan Ellis, gave a simple catch to Rahul Chahar at point in the seventh over.
Cadmore too returned to the dugout in the next over, as his almighty heave off leg-spinner Chahar (2/26) could not progress beyond Jitesh in the deep.
Those twin dismissals actually paved the way for the best phase in the Royals’ innings as Ashwin and Parag pressed their foot on the right pedal.
Ashwin displayed his batting skills, smashing Chahar for 17 runs in the 12th over that included a sequence of 6, 4, 4 and the first four was a stunning reverse scoop over backward point.
But he could not further extend his innings, lofting Arshdeep to Shashank.
Parag, usually a free-flowing batter, had to curb his flair in front of a hugely adoring home crowd because of the regular fall of wickets at the other end.
But a late cut off Curran that sped to third man stood as a testament of his ability and timing as he also moved past the 500-run mark for the season, before getting trapped in front of the wicket by Harshal Patel.
However, apart from conquering those little peaks the RR batters failed to slip into the top gear consistently.
