Chirag’s googly

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan’s tweet thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for sending a team to Bihar to bring the cases of coronavirus under control is bound to rile his alliance partner and the ruling NDA’S face in Bihar, Nitish Kumar. Paswan’s words of praise came at a time when Chief Minister Kumar is being criticised over his handling of the pandemic and his insistence that the coming Assembly election in the state be held according to schedule. The tweets by the young LJP leader came hours after state opposition leader and the face of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Tejashwi Yadav, dubbed the central team’s visit to the state evidence that the government was “manipulating the Covid-19 numbers in the state”. Paswan’s other tweet was a direct hit at the Chief Minister: “The spiralling coronavirus cases in Bihar might soon lead to an explosive situation and has become a matter of concern for the people of the state,” he said.