Critics of Nitish Kumar seized on the ads, calling them a sign of discord with PM (Archive)
Patna:
They are fighting together in the Bihar elections, but in posters and announcements posted by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the BJP, their alliance is in fine print.
BJP posters with a solo image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have provoked mockery from the opposition in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Also, Nitish Kumar’s newspaper advertisements do not mention PM Modi or the BJP.
The full-page BJP ads and posters that appeared on Saturday read: “BJP hai toh bharosa hai (Where there is BJP, there is trust). ”With a single billing to Prime Minister Modi, the ad spoke only of the BJP’s electoral promises: free Covid vaccine for everyone in Bihar and 19 lakh of job opportunities.
Political rivals such as Chirag Paswan and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Tejashwi Yadav called it proof that even the BJP recognized how unpopular Nitish Kumar has become and that the ruling party had made a conscious decision to remove him from their ads.
“It seems Nitish Kumar’s need for testing is not ending,” scoffed Chirag Paswan, who is competing separately from the NDA and has vowed to defeat Nitish Kumar even though he remains loyal to the BJP. The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) also tweeted an image of the ad and scoffed: “Nitish-ji should be grateful to the BJP for providing him with a full page ad and praman patra and it should be as loyal to the NDA coalition as the BJP. “
The RJD tweeted images of the same announcement with the comment: “Bihar will vote for a prime minister, not a prime minister.”
BJP sources point out that Nitish Kumar was the first to decide not to share space with their leaders in their ads. An ad posted the day he shared the podium with Prime Minister Modi had no image other than his, they say.
The ad featured the Chief Minister and his “Saat nishchay (seven resolves) “and used the catchphrase”Swavalambi Bihar “- your opinion on that of the prime minister”Atmanirbhar (self-sufficient) Bharat “.
Critics of Nitish Kumar seized upon the ads, calling them a sign of discord between the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Modi.
Interestingly, in 2010, when during a national BJP executive in Patna, an advertisement appeared in Gujarat featuring Narendra Modi, a furious Nitish Kumar had filed an FIR and sent a team to investigate. The image was from their joint rally in the 2009 parliamentary elections. In the years after that, Nitish Kumar distanced himself from Prime Minister Modi and even ended his ties with the BJP in 2013, months before the 2014 national elections. Nitish Kumar returned to the NDA only three years later, after ditching the RJD and Congress, and made public statements in support of Prime Minister Modi.
.
