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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Main accused in Delhi Police constable murder shot dead in Sangam Vihar
New Delhi (PTI): A day after the fatal stabbing of a Delhi Police constable, the main accused in the case was shot dead in an encounter with the personnel of the force in south Delhi's Sangam Vihar area, officials said on Sunday.
Constable Kiran Pal was stabbed to death by three people on Saturday while on night patrolling duty in southeast Delhi's Govindpuri area. Two accused -- Deepak Max and Krish Gupta -- were arrested later in that day.
The third accused, Raghav -- who stabbed Pal with a knife -- was hiding in Sangam Vihar, a senior police officer of Special Cell said.
Acting on specific information, teams of NDR of Special Cell and Narcotics Cell of South East District, went to the area connecting Sangam Vihar and Surajkund Road late on Saturday night, the officer said.
The accused was identified and asked to surrender. He, however, opened fire at the police personnel who retaliated in self-defence and injured the accused.
"He was immediately taken to the ESIC Hospital, Okhla, where he died," the officer said.
A pistol with two cartridges have been seized, the police officer said, adding no police official was injured in the encounter.
Constable Kiran Pal, posted at Govindpuri Police Station, was on night patrolling duty when he stopped three people riding a scooty in the early hours of Saturday.
The accused threw stones at the constable to evade arrest but he managed to waylay them by putting his bike in front of their vehicle, the officer said.
The constable also took away the keys of the scooty and started questioning the trio during which the accused stabbed him, the officer added.
