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Reacting angrily to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's comment on anti-Sikh and Bhagalpur riots and on invitation to Aligarh Muslim University function, Congress today said they were akin to "testing" the party's patience on whose support his government was surviving.
"Kumar's allegations against the Congress in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and 1989 Bhagalpur communal strife reflected his 'frustration' over expected alliance between Congress and other parties in the state which is 'teasing him politically'," Bihar Congress Vice-president and media-in- charge Prem Chand Mishra said in a statement here.
Though Congress has not finalised alliance in Bihar with any party so far, but Kumar's words on hearing sounds of a possible tie-up with parties other than his JD(U) clearly indicates that 'the party (JD-U) is gripped with problems', he said.
Lalu Prasad met Rahul Gandhi yesterday for the second time this month amid indications that RJD and Congress were working out the nitty-gritty of forging a secular alliance in Bihar.
LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan met Congress leader Digvijay Singh a day before.
Mishra questioned the rationale behind Kumar levelling "baseless" allegations against Congress after so many years and asked "if he (Kumar) was planning to return to BJP?"
Kumar's allegations on Congress over riots was "politically motivated" and asked him to clarify whether many of the accused of the 1989 Bhagalpur riots were not the members of RJD of which Kumar was himself a part of then.
He charged the chief minister of not only helping BJP move ahead but also in the execution of RSS agendas for 17 years in the state.
"Why did Kumar not tender his resignation after the 2002 Gujarat riots ? ... Isn't true that he had publicaly praised Narendra Modi at a function in Gujarat?" Mishra questioned.
