Nitish's visit to poll-bound UP to help Cong: BJP

Patna, Jul 12: Asserting that JD(U) has no presence in Uttar Pradesh, senior Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today charged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with trying to eat into BJP's votes in the poll-bound state at the behest of Congress.

"Nitish Kumar is working at the behest of Congress by frequently visiting Uttar Pradesh in order to create a division of Kurmi votes which traditionally goes to BJP," he told reporters on the sidelines of his weekly Janata Darbar at his official residence.

The JD(U) national president, however, will not succeed in his mission to either divide the Kurmi votes or help Congress in any manner as he does not have influence to make any difference in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Modi said.

He said that Kumar's gameplan in Uttar Pradesh stands exposed as the reputed poll strategist Prashant Kishor happens to advise both the Chief Minister and the Congress. Modi alleged that JD(U) president will prove to be a 'votekatwa' (one who chips away some votes), a remark that BJP national president Amit Shah had made against Kumar recently.

In response to a query that the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad wants a Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in UP on the lines of Bihar, he said first of all Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar should decide whether or not they would fight together before taking on BJP.

Stating that both Prasad's and Kumar's parties are regional outfits which do not have any influence in UP, he said "Both Lalu and Nitish would meet the same fate in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections just as Mulayam Singh Yadav faced in Bihar assembly elections late last year." Modi was referring to the SP's drubbing in Bihar.

They are regional leaders and just go on 'pleasure trips' in various states, the senior BJP leader said referring to Nitish Kumar and others. In reply to the opposition criticising central government's decision to sell holy Gangajal at a nominal price through India Post, he said that this is a welcome step and they should have praised the government for noble cause instead of politicising it.

Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Manoj Sinha had on Sunday launched the sale of 'Gangajal' collected from Gangotri and Rishikesh at Patna GPO.

"Ganga is most polluted in Bihar and hence no one would like to take 'Gangajal' of Patna which is polluted. Instead, everyone would like to take the pure 'Gangajal' of Gangotri from where the holy river originates. People want to have the holy Ganga water of places like Rishikesh and Sangam," he said.

PTI