Nitish says, Nobody can beat Modi in 2019; slams Congress

Agencies
August 1, 2017

Patna, Aug 1: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday tore into Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, insisting continuing in the Grand Alliance would have amounted to "compromising with corruption".

Having embraced the BJP after a four-year hiatus, Nitish claimed there would be "no challenge" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 general elections.

He also said the proposal for a reunion had come from the "highest level" in the BJP which he accepted as "going got impossible" in the Grand Alliance due to accusations of corruption against his then deputy Tejashwi Yadav.

"There were corruption charges and cases were filed by the CBI (against Lalu Prasad and family). I had only told them to come out with proper answers. Instead, they made fun of me saying whether I was a CBI official or the police," he told a press conference.

"Laluji did not give any clarification on corruption charges. How could I remain silent after having talked about zero tolerance to corruption? Now I have a feeling that they did not have a proper answer," Nitish said. Nitish, till recently seen as a potential challenger to Modi, said, "Nobody else (other than Modi) can occupy the PM's post. Now nobody has the strength to beat rpt beat Modi."

Asked about his future role in national politics, Nitish, also the JD(U) chief, said, "Ours is a small party which does not harbour big national aspirations." When asked about the possibility of JD(U) becoming part of NDA at the national level with ministers in the Modi government, Kumar said the JD(U) national executive will meet in Patna on August 19 and all such issues will be decided there.

He also hit back at RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for criticising him for forging an alliance with "communal" BJP.

"Making huge money hiding behind the shield of secularism ...is this secularism? ... I need no certificate of secularism from anybody," he said, questioning Lalu's secularist credentials.

Highlighting his own commitment to secularism, he said his government had given compensation to the victims of the Bhagalpur communal riots on par with those of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

On reports that senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav was upset over the party joining hands with BJP, he said, "It is not necessary that everybody always agrees on everything. One can have divergent views. The decision to break the Grand Alliance was taken by Bihar JD(U) at its executive meeting which I had to abide by." "JD(U) is registered with the Election Commission as a

regional party in Bihar and hence going against the decision of the state party was not possible for me," he said. Nitish mocked at Rahul Gandhi for claiming that he had an inkling that Kumar would walk out of the coalition for the last three to four months. "Then why did he (Gandhi) meet me when I had gone to Delhi and sought his intervention...to ask RJD to come clean on the accusations.

"Congress did not act on time in Assam also when AGP had come on board. It cost us the Assam polls," he said, adding "we can be a partner but not a camp follower." Even as Nitish defended his decision of aligning with the BJP, JD(U) veteran Sharad Yadav had earlier in the day voiced his disapproval, saying the mandate in the 2015 Assembly polls

was for the grand alliance. He termed the development "unpleasant" and "unfortunate".

"The situation is very unpleasant to us... It is unfortunate that the coalition has been broken. People's mandate was not for it. Bihar's 11 crore people had endorsed our alliance," Yadav told reporters outside Parliament.

The Rajya Sabha member has met a number of opposition leaders since Nitish walked out of the 3-party Grand Alliance, which also included the Congress, and joined the NDA camp.

In Lucknow, BJP chief Amit Shah dismissed allegations of his party engineering splits and defections in rival political organisations.

"In Bihar, we did not break any party. Nitish had tendered his resignation as he had decided that he will not put up with corruption. Should we have told him with a gun to his temple that stay in that alliance?," Shah told a press conference.

Nitish also slammed Lalu over his claim that he made him the chief minister despite RJD having more MLAs. "He (Lalu) arrogantly says that he made me the CM ... The people of Bihar showed him his worth in 2010 (when RJD's strength was reduced to 22)," he said. Meanwhile, in a boost to the fledgling JD(U)-NDA alliance dispensation in Bihar, the Patna High Court today dismissed two PILs challenging the formation of a new government by Nitish Kumar, saying the court's intervention was no longer required after the floor test in the state Assembly. While one public interest litigation was filed by RJD MLAs Saroj Yadav and Chandan Verma, the other was by Jitendra Kumar, a Samajwadi Party member.

Nitish had comfortably won the confidence vote 131-108 on Friday.

 

Comments

hotman
 - 
Tuesday, 1 Aug 2017

If Lalu's son has any complaint on corruption, then drop him and warn his father about the issue.

Why did resign and joined BJP which you have already divorced/left them from the earlier union.

 

Bihar people have not voted you to join BJP, you have cheated them.

Your commitment was with Lalu, you should have continued.

 

Biharis will not forget you.

 

AK
 - 
Tuesday, 1 Aug 2017

Cheaters alwz like the LIARS and the DECIEVERS...

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
September 10,2024

holocast.jpg

The Palestinian Hamas resistance movement has strongly denounced an Israeli attack on displaced people sheltering in tents in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis in the south of Gaza Strip as “a brutal act of genocide.”

“The occupying regime’s appalling massacre against displaced people in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis is a brutal act of genocide... This vicious targeting of unarmed civilians — women, children, and the elderly — in an area previously declared safe by the occupation army is proof of the ongoing Nazi policies that the Zionist entity is pursuing in its genocidal war against Palestinians,” the Gaza-based group said in a statement on Tuesday morning.

It added that such mass killings are being deliberately carried out in complete disregard of the international law, humanitarian law, and UN resolutions calling for an end to the aggression, noting the massacres are being perpetrated with the full support of the US administration, which is complicit in Israeli brutalities against Palestinians.

It also dismissed Israeli army’s allegations concerning the presence of resistance fighters in the targeted area as "downright lies meant to justify such ugly crimes."

"The resistance front has repeatedly confirmed the absence of ... its members among civilian communities or the use of residential areas for military purposes,” the statement pointed out.

Hamas also called upon the international community, the United Nations, and all political, humanitarian and judicial institutions to break their silence, assume their responsibility and work to stop the 11-month-long holocaust.

The resistance movement stated that world bodies need to take necessary steps in order to bring Israeli war criminals before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and hold them to account for their horrendous crimes.

According to Palestinian media outlets, at least 40 people were killed and 60 others injured in the Israeli attack on people sheltering in tents in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis.

The strikes involved heavy missiles and left craters up to 9 meters (30 feet) deep in an area where people were living in at least 20 tents.

Ambulance and Civil Defense teams are facing considerable difficulty retrieving the bodies of the victims.

Initial assessments suggest the attack is “one of the most heinous massacres in the ongoing frenzied war”.

Witnesses described chaotic scenes in the area, with fires burning and Israeli reconnaissance planes flying overhead.

Israel launched its atrocious onslaught against the Gaza Strip, targeting hospitals, residences, and houses of worship, since Palestinian resistance movements launched a surprise attack, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm, against the usurping regime on October 7 last year.

At least 41,020 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children. Another 94,925 individuals have sustained injuries as well.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
September 17,2024

atisih.jpg

New Delhi, Sept 17: Atishi will be the new Chief Minister of Delhi. The decision came after a legislative party meeting was chaired by Arvind Kejriwal at his Delhi residence earlier today.

Kejriwal is expected to tender his resignation later today, and will also meet Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at 4.30 pm.

On September 13, Arvind Kejriwal was released from Tihar Jail, where he had been lodged for his alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor policy case. Nearly two days after his release, on Sunday, Kejriwal said he would resign as the Chief Minister within 48 hours.

He also sought early polls in Delhi, and vowed not to sit in the chief minister’s chair until people gave him a “certificate of honesty”.

On Monday, the AAP held a series of meetings as Kejriwal sought feedback from members of the political affairs committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, on his successor in one-on-one meetings at his official residence.

Names of Delhi ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot and Saurabh Bharadwaj were making the rounds as contenders, news agency PTI had quoted party insiders as saying and added that Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal and Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel were also the probables.

Mangolpuri MLA Rakhi Birla, who is also the deputy speaker in the assembly, and Kondli legislator Kuldeep Kumar were also potential candidates, they added.

Earlier, sources with the AAP had told PTI that the surprise candidate could also be a member of the minority community as the party has witnessed its support among the community wavering since the 2020 Delhi riots.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
September 9,2024

mpox.jpg

New Delhi: A man who recently travelled from a country experiencing mpox transmission has tested positive for the disease, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

"The previously suspected case of mpox has been verified as a travel-related infection. Laboratory testing has confirmed the presence of mpox virus of the West African clade-2 in the patient," it said.

The ministry said that it is an isolated case, similar to the earlier 30 cases reported in India from July 2022 onwards. It is not a part of the current public health emergency reported by WHO which is regarding clade 1 of mpox, it underlined.

"The individual, a young male who recently travelled from a country experiencing ongoing mpox transmission, is currently isolated at a designated tertiary care isolation facility. The patient remains clinically stable and is without any systemic illness or comorbidities," the ministry said.

The case aligns with earlier risk assessments and continues to be managed according to established protocols, it said, adding that public health measures, including contact tracing and monitoring, are actively in place to ensure the situation is contained.

"There is no indication of any widespread risk to the public at this time," the health ministry stated.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) last month declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) for the second time in view of its prevalence and spread across many parts of Africa.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.