Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today lashed out at the BJP-led central government for failing to keep its promises, including bringing back blackmoney stashed abroad and charged it with harping on "emotive issues" to divert attention from the ones affecting the people.
"The NDA government has not only failed to keep various promises, including bringing back black money stashed abroad and distributing it among the people, but it is seeking to create a strife in the society by raking up emotive issues from time to time to divert attention from problems of the masses," he told an expanded meeting of the JD(U) state executive, legislative party and district unit presidents and office bearers at his official residence.
"The NDA government is about to complete two years in office, but nothing has been heard on bringing back black money from abroad ... It has failed to generate employment for youths nor has it kept various promises made during the general election," Kumar said.
Failing to live up to the people's expectation, the central government and the Sangh Parivar have been intentionally raising emotive issues like 'love jehad', 'ghar wapsi' and nationalism to divert public attention, he told the party leaders and workers.
Kumar hit out at BJP for harping on nationalism as a core issue of its ideology and agenda and said it was so then why did the saffron party stitch an alliance with PDP despite its adoption of a resolution condemning the hanging of Afzal Guru.
"What type of nationalism is it when you slap sedition charge on students (of JNU) for raising slogans and stitch an alliance and form government with a party (PDP) which had publicly backed Afzal Guru?" Kumar asked.
Contrasting the NDA government's failure on various fronts with his government's performance in Bihar, he said that his government has set out on 'saat nischay' (seven pledges) for improving of life of the general people.
"Unlike the BJP-led NDA government, we are performers and believe in translating our commitments into action....We are going to implement the seven pledges with full vigour as we know that these measures will impact the lives of the people in positive ways," the JD(U) leader said.
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Kumar said he had severed alliance with BJP nearly
three years ago on 'principled issues' and his party and its alliance with RJD and Congress was written off in the wake of drubbing in the 2014 general elections.
"Those were tough days. But we regrouped and kept faith in the Grand Alliance and our strategy succeeded as the electorate of Bihar gave us an astounding mandate in the Assembly polls late last year.
"I congratulate the leadership of all Grand Alliance constituents for sticking together during tough days," he said.
The Chief Minister also took potshot at the RSS' decision for its cadres to wear full pants and said the outfit should change its venomous ideology instead of clothes.
Kumar feted his election strategist Prashant Kishore with a shawl and thanked him personally and on his allies' behalf for scripting a stupendous victory in the Assembly polls.
JD(U) also took decisions like starting membership drive, setting up offices and grievance redressal camps at the block and panchayat level, besides soliciting support of the party workers in enforcement of sale of country-made liquor from April 1, the party's state unit spokesman Niraj Kumar said.
The JD(U) had called the meeting to discuss and roll out three agendas membership drive, enforcement of country-made liquor ban and the chief minister's seven pledges.
