Advani hits out at Nitish for breaking alliance with BJP

Banka/Katihar, April 14: Senior BJP leader L K Advani today hit out at Nitish Kumar's decision to split from the NDA over Narendra Modi's elevation last year saying he had dishonoured a friendship for which he will be doomed in future.

"Nitish has unilaterally snapped friendship with the BJP and launched an all out attack on the BJP. His conduct is a far cry from BJP's belief to always honour friendship with allies," Advani told an election meeting in Banka.

He said that all these years, BJP had honoured its friendship with allies and never criticised them. "But Nitish Kumar not only dumped the BJP, but criticised it too."

The senior BJP leader said that Nitish and George Fernandes had arrived at the party's national executive in Mumbai in 1996 to explore formation of a front with BJP to oust Congress from power.

The objective, he said, was achieved soon after with the NDA government headed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee wresting power at the Centre.

He recalled that after his arrest during the 1990 rath yatra in Bihar, the national front government headed by the then Prime Minister V P Singh had collapsed. Expressing displeasure at Bihar Chief Minister's unilateral decision to part ways with BJP last year, he said that he would be doomed in future as was the case with V P Singh.

PTI