 "Ram Vilas Paswan")
As a virtual war of words broke out between JD(U) and RJD in the wake of murders of engineers in Bihar, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan today took a jibe at his one-time ally Lalu Prasad saying what can be more "ridiculous" than the latter talking about law and order.
Paswan also reiterated that the alliance between RJD and JD(U) will "not last long" and the coalition government in the state, led by Nitish Kumar, will not complete its full term.
The recent murders of three engineers have led to an verbal dual between the alliance partners with leaders of the two parties attacking each other. In a bid to fish in troubled waters, Paswan, who had in past allied with RJD, trained his guns on Prasad.
"What can be more ridiculous than Lalu Prasad telling Nitish what is law and order all about. What right the RJD chief has to advise on the issue of law and order. All that is happening today is happening due to him.
"He planted the seeds of this during 15-year-long rule of RJD, which flourished during the 10-year-rule of Nitish Kumar and is giving the fruits till date," Paswan told PTI.
The Union Minister claimed the Nitish Kumar government in the state will not last more than two years.
"Now the evidence of what I had said is coming. It's Lalu ruling while the crown is on Nitish (Nitish Ke Sar Pe Taaj Hai, Lalu Ka Raaj Hai). Nitish Kumar is helpless. Lalu is repeatedly reminding him in his way that his party RJD has got more numbers than JD(U) in the Assembly polls.
"This government will not complete the full five year tenure. But the downfall of Bihar will accelerated during this two or two and half beyond which the government cannot last," Paswan said.
The RJD chief's comment on law and order in the wake of killing of two engineers of a road construction company at Darbhanga on Saturday has provided ammunition to opposition BJP to attack the Nitish Kumar government.
After Prasad's apparent snub, senior RJD leader Raghubansh Prasad Singh expressed concern over the rise in crime, and said, "JD(U) people are in the habit of hearing 'jay kaar' (hailing words) which they should end and take strong measures to rein in crime causing disturbance to people."
JD(U) too reacted sharply, with former minister Shyam Rajak saying Kumar had shown his merit in pulling Bihar out of dark days and hence he needed no lesson from anybody. "Even a child can give advice," he said apparently reacting to Singh's comments.
Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party, a key constituent of the
NDA in Bihar, got a severe drubbing in Assembly polls there. He did not hide his anguish over the results when he said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of bringing Bihar at par with states was demolished. This defeat is not of NDA but of development and of Bihar."
He said that people of the state are now thinking of security to life and assets rather than development.
At the same time Paswan hastened to add that the NDA government will fufil the promise made by Modi regarding packages to the state. "The Prime Minister is very serious about it and monitoring the forward movement on it personally," the Union Minister claimed.
The LJP chief reminded that in the run-up to the Assembly Polls, he had warned of the return of 'Jungle Raj' in Bihar if the Lalu-Nitish won the election.
"We were saying that this government will bring back Jungle Raj and it has happened," Paswan said, adding that the future of Bihar does not look good due to the "worsening" law and order scenario.
The grand alliance of LJP, RJD and Congress handed over a crushing defeat to the NDA, securing 178 seats in the 243-member House. Both Lalu and Nitish staged a comeback after the virtual decimation of their parties in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, when NDA had won 31 of the 40 seats.
Paswan, however, feels that this rather than acting as a dampener for NDA, will be a "boon in disguise" for it for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly bypolls.
"The mess that will be witnessed in Bihar in next one year will be an eye-opener for people in Uttar Pradesh. They will vote for change. They will vote for the NDA there after having seen both Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party at the helm of affairs," he asserted.
