Nitish denies ‘neech’ comment

PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday clarified that he never used the word ‘neech (lowly)’ against anybody at an event here on November 3.

The alleged slur widened a rift within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar. Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, who heads NDA constituent Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), had claimed it was targeted at him.

“Batcheet ka sthar itna neeche mat giraeeye (do not allow the level of debate to dip so low),’’ Kumar had said at the event in response to a question on Kushwaha’s statement about the chief minister’s unwillingness to remain in office after 2020.

“What I said has been misinterpreted. I have unnecessarily become the target of attack. I never used any derogatory words for anybody,” Kumar told his legislators on Tuesday.

Kushwaha could not be reached for his reaction while RLSP spokesman Madhav Anand rejected the clarification. “Everybody has seen whom he targeted and Bihar’s deputy minister [Sushil Modi] backed him.”

Kushwaha has asked Kumar to apologise amid his souring ties with the NDA over the seat sharing arrangement in Bihar ahead of national elections due next year.

The BJP and Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) or JD (U) have agreed to contest an equal number of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seat and indicated fewer seats for the RLSP. The NDA had swept the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in Bihar, winning 31 seats. RLSP had contributed three seats to the NDA’s tally. The JD (U) had contested separately and won just two seats.

NDA leaders say Kushwaha is unhappy over the importance being given to Kumar since his return to the NDA in 2017. They say Kushwaha sees himself as a potential chief ministerial candidate.

An angry Kushwaha even asked Kumar to share the “status and content” of his DNA test after the alleged slur. He made the statement with reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi comment in July 2015 questioning Kumar’s political DNA. Modi’s remark was linked to Kumar’s move to snap ties with the BJP after a 17-year alliance two years earlier. Kumar had left the alliance after BJP named Modi as its PM candidate.

What I said has been misinterpreted. I have unnecessarily become the target of attack. NITISH KUMAR, Bihar CM