New Delhi, July 19(Press Ki Taquat)
Taunting Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his early return from Bengaluru on Tuesday after the meeting of opposition leaders, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said he did so because he was “upset” over not having been made convener of the new coalition – Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A).
However, Bihar CM’s party JD(U) made light of Sushil Modi’s claim and hit back saying he is “someone who makes ridiculous statements and is not taken seriously even within his party”.
In a statement issued on Tuesday late evening, Sushil Modi claimed that Nitish Kumar deliberately “skipped the press conference held after the meeting” since he felt slighted over not having been made ‘sanyojak’ (convener) of the opposition alliance – I.N.D.I.A.
The BJP leader also likened Kumar’s early return from Bengaluru to the action of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the last month’s opposition meeting in Patna.
The AAP delegation had skipped the press conference after the meet in Patna, and soon afterwards, came out with a statement lashing out at the Congress for not giving assurance to lend support on the ordinance issue.
“Some of our friends are not present because their return journeys were scheduled,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had said at the press conference in Bengaluru.
Besides Nitish Kumar, those not present at the press conference included RJD president Lalu Prasad, his son and Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, both of whom travelled with the chief minister.
According to reports from Patna, the three of them returned by the same flight and drove to their respective places without talking to the press, who waited eagerly at the airport for some news bites.
Sushil Modi also alleged that the new acronym INDIA was coined to ‘hide bad intentions (khoti niyat)’ of the ‘anti-Hindu’ opposition parties, which will get a befitting reply from ‘sanskritinishth (culturally rooted) Bharat’.
Meanwhile, senior JD(U) leader and state minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary has reportedly dismissed the allegation of Sushil Modi whom he accused of making ‘ridiculous statements’.”Sushil Modi is not taken seriously in his own party as is evident from his being sidelined,” Chaudhary told a news agency, in an indirect reference to the BJP leader being unceremoniously dropped as Deputy CM after the 2020 assembly polls.
