Nitish is bigger 'culprit' than Lalu: Sushil Kumar Modi

Patna, Sep 11: Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Friday held Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a bigger "culprit" than Lalu Prasad for "derailing" progress in the state by snapping ties with the party without a valid reason.

"Nitish Kumar has harmed (the state) more than Lalu Prasad and is hence a bigger culprit. He derailed a speeding train by snapping ties with BJP without a valid reason whereas Lalu Prasad's RJD had derailed only a stationary train," Sushil Modi told a private TV channel.

"Bihar was speeding fast on the path of development during NDA rule but you (Nitish Kumar) derailed the speeding train in the name Narendra Modi after he was made Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP," said Sushil Modi, who was deputy chief minister during NDA rule in the state, Prasad had shaken a little a stationary train it had inherited from Congress in 1990," said Sushil Modi, who was leader of opposition during RJD rule.

Asked as why BJP-led NDA was not declaring its candidate for chief minister's post when the secular alliance has already named Nitish Kumar, Sushil Modi, who is rated as a frontrunner for it, said the decision would be taken by the party's Parliamentary board.

"In any case we have a captain in Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Bihar elections. So how can it be said that our team is without a captain?" he said.

Sushil Modi said people of the state can never forget the 15 year 'jungle raj' of RJD when the crime situation was at its worst.

He said he knew Prasad for the past 45 years and was general secretary of Patna University Students Union when the RJD chief was its president and knew he could never be serious on development matter.

The more Prasad talks, the more advantageous it would be for BJP. "Kumar has been urging Prasad to speak less but can he be stopped from speaking irrelevant things?" the BJP leader said.

Sushil Modi highlighted alleged marked deterioration in governance in the state in the last two-and-half years when BJP walked out of the government vis-a-vis what it was under the NDA government since 2005.

PTI