Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad should explain whether his party was still with Congress or has severed its ties, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday. "The RJD with its four Lok Sabha MPs is extending support to the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre, but at the same time its leaders including Lalu Prasad are taking the Congress to task on various issues, including the one related to its electoral debacle in Bihar," The CM told a press conference in Patna.
Ridiculing the RJD leader for charging him of misusing the state machinery for the thanks-giving yatra after the Lok Sabha poll result, Kumar said it reflected Prasad's "mental hollowness". "I was on a thanks-giving yatra for expressing my gratitude to the people for the massive support that led to the victory of the National Democratic Alliance's nominees in Bihar. All the expenses towards the programme are being borne by Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party. "Prasad has reached a stage of mental hollowness as he has failed to digest the electoral reverses the RJD together with the Lok Janshakti Party tasted," he said.
The case was similar with LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan who was making "unfounded" allegations of misuse of machinery by the JD-U for ensuring defeat of Paswan and his party candidates in the LS polls, Kumar said. Referring to Prasad's oft-repeated statement that he was ready to take on the challenges thrown by the NDA in Bihar, Kumar said, "I will like to say with full humility that I have never thrown any challenge before anyone." "I am just carrying out the responsibilities the people of the state assigned to me with great trust and doing justice to all sections of the society," he said.
The Bihar model of reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions and local and urban bodies was being talked about at the national level and other states were toying with the idea to adopt similar system, he said.
