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In what could be viewed as a brand rub-off exercise, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar shared stage and displayed easy bonhomie with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Both Chief Ministers attacked the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent announcements, especially with regard to Nitish Kumar’s “DNA”. Kejriwal said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will not field candidates in Bihar. He also said that Kumar had invited him to Bihar.
At the “Bihar Samman Sammelan” organised by the Delhi Government, Kumar was the chief guest. The event is significant in the light of the upcoming Assembly polls in Bihar, where Kumar is facing a tough challenge from the NDA, whose campaign is spearheaded by Modi.
Camaraderie on showKumar has been in touch with Kejriwal for a while, but the latter had so far desisted from sharing a platform with him, even when he has been promoting the Bihar CM’s views and comments, especially with regard to the Central Government’s functioning. Kejriwal is locked in a routine power tussle with the Centre which, he says is “disrupting” his functioning through the office of Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najib Jung.
Kejriwal thus made common cause with the Bihar CM, holding hands with him. Kumar, in turn, showered praise on the Delhi CM.
“The BJP is committing the same mistakes in Bihar that they made in Delhi. They will fail again,” said Kejriwal, who earlier this year trounced the BJP by winning 67 of Delhi’s 70 Assembly seats. Kejriwal’s victory broke the BJP’s extraordinary winning spell since the Lok Sabha elections last year during which it won Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and formed a government for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir, in alliance with the People’s Democratic Party.
Arvind thanks NitishKejriwal thanked the Bihar CM for deputing police officers from his state to Delhi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau which the state government has repeatedly claimed is understaffed. “I just called once and within a week, he (Nitish Kumar) deputed a number of police officers,” Kejriwal said.
‘Why not pay the soldiers?’On Modi’s announcement of ₹1.25 crore special package for Bihar, Kejriwal said: “If he has so much money, he should give some to the soldiers who are fasting for One Rank One Pension.”
Kumar, on his part, said: “Delhi, what you have done is absolutely right. Hold on to Kejriwal.”
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