)
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today dared opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) to bring a no-confidence motion against his government. He also termed the ex-ministers of BJP as non-competent.
Dubbing the BJP as a 'jealous opposition', Kumar asked the saffron party to replace his government if he does not have the majority.
While concluding the government's reply on a special debate on "treats of terrorism, communalism and naxalism" in the state assembly, the Chief Minister said, "If my government is weak and it doesn't have the majority, then why don't they (BJP) remove us? If the BJP believes that they have the numbers, they should bring a no-confidence motion and replace us. If we are not competent enough, then remove us. I gave them a chance in June 18, but they run away. This is not how things work. It is a jealous opposition."
He also attacked opposition's charge that the Chief Minister is scared of revolt in his party, the Janata Dal (United), and therefore adopted a dilly-dallying approach towards cabinet expansion.
"Government is a collective responsibility. Why they are so interested in Cabinet expansion? It is the Chief Minister's prerogative... They will not succeed in turning this non-issue into an issue."
Meanwhile, Kumar also refuted BJP's charges about intelligence failure regarding its "Hunkar Rally" on October 27 in Patna. "There were no specific intelligence inputs regarding that incident. However, as soon as one person was arrested from Patna Railway Station, our security agency swung into action.
