Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday asserted that he will “rather die” than join hands with the BJP, stung by the saffron party’s decision that there will be no alliance with the “unpopular” JD(U) leader.
Kumar made the remark while replying to questions here, from journalists, about the BJP’s decision taken at its two-day state executive meeting that concluded in Darbhanga on the previous day.
“Mar jaana qabool hai lekin unke saath jaana humko kabhi qabool nahin hai, yah yaad rakhiye) (I will rather die than join hands with them, do remember this),” the septuagenarian said on the sidelines of a function organised on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary.
Kumar, the state’s longest-serving CM, reminded the BJP of the stupendous success it shared under his leadership at the hustings, including the 2010 assembly polls when the saffron party had won 91 seats, its best-ever performance.
The JD(U) supremo, who pulled the plug on alliance with the BJP in August last year, claimed that the saffron party used to get even the votes of Muslims who felt secure enough under his leadership to temporarily shun their wariness of Hindutva.
“On this day, Bapu was assassinated. And he was assassinated by those who had a problem with his commitment to protecting the Muslims,” the socialist leader said, referring to Mahatma Gandhi’s interventions during the riots that broke out around Partition and his insistence that Pakistan be paid a sum of Rs 55 crore.
Kumar also said that after having snapped ties with the BJP in 2013, when Narendra Modi took centre stage, he committed a “mistake” by realigning with the saffron party again in 2017.
