People fear `jungle raj` return after JD(U)-RJD tie up: BJP

Patna: In a strong retort to senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar who said BJP was scared over a probable tie up between his party and RJD, the BJP on Friday said not them, but people are afraid over prospects of such an alliance.

"BJP is not scared... But the prospects of this alliance has generated fear among citizens who feel the `jungle raj` might return," senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi told reporters here. Seeking to turn the tables on his former NDA companion, Sushil Modi, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, said Nitish Kumar has made compromises with Lalu Prasad against whom he fought for nearly two decades, out of fear of the BJP. Taking a jibe at Kumar, he suggested him to rechristen his party as "Rashtriya Janata Dal (United)". Kumar had yesterday criticised the BJP saying it was "gripped with fear" over a probable tie-up between his party and Lalu Prasad`s RJD even though no decision had been taken yet. The former Bihar Chief Minister had recently favoured a grand alliance between the JD(U), RJD, Congress and the Left against the BJP in next year`s Assembly elections.