Narendra Modi v/s Nitish Kumar: RSS praises Bihar govt

New Delhi, Aug 10: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (

) chief Mohan Bhagwat recently claimed that Bihar is ahead of

as a model of "good governance."

Bhagwat's statement showed the comparison between Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi, the arch rivals. The statement surfaced after Bihar Chief Minister asserted that he will move out of NDA alliance if they name Modi as NDA's prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 General Election.

It seems that RSS leaders were trying to ease Mr Kumar as JD(U) would be a crucial ally in NDA for the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

Recently, BJP President Nitin Gadkari also assured Mr Kumar saying that no decision has been taken yet on Mr Modi's status for the general elections.

However, Mr Bhagwat was very cautious while selecting his words during an interaction with members of the foreign media in Delhi. Clarifying his statement while praising Bihar government, the RSS chief said that the perception that Bihar was better governed than Gujarat was that of the public, not his personal opinion. The RSS chief also claimed that Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are also developing under BJP government.

Firmly sticking to his stand for a secular person to be projected as the NDA's prime ministerial candidate in the next general elections, Mr Kumar earlier had slammed RSS saying that his party JD(U) has an alliance with BJP and not the Sangh Parivar.

"JD(U) has a long standing alliance with BJP and not RSS...I stand by what I have said in an interview," he said, referring to his view on a secular person to be projected as the NDA's prime ministerial candidate.

"I did not take the name of any individual," he told reporters on the sidelines of his Janata Durbar here in reference to his secular NDA prime ministerial candidate demand being read as an attempt to undermine Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's prime ministerial ambitions.

OneIndia News