New Delhi: Congress today took a swipe
at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the advertisement row
involving him and Narendra Modi saying there was no difference
between the BJP and the Gujarat Chief Minister and the
controversy was only to fool the people of the state.
"He (Nitish) has worked with the BJP for the last
four-and-a-half years. There is no difference between the BJP
and Modi.... This (ad controversy) was to fool the people of
the state," AICC general secretary in-charge of Bihar Mukul
Wasnik told reporters here after chairing a meeting of the
coordination team and observers for the state.
With Assembly elections due later this year, Kumar has
made it known that he would not like to be seen with Modi, the
face of hardline Hindutva, and be associated with any move
that could anger Muslim voters, who constitute 16 per cent
of the state`s population.
Wasnik, who recently took over as the party in-charge
of the poll-bound state, said, "people of Bihar will respond
to it (Nitish Kumar sharing power with BJP in the state and
distancing himself with Modi) at an appropriate time".
The AICC general secretary has also formed a 50-strong
coordination team for assembly elections in Bihar, which
includes 20 MPs and 5 AICC secretaries. The state has been
divided into nine zones for poll related purposes.
"From our side, preparations for the elections have
begun. The co-ordination team would monitor and supervise at
the grassroots level and will expose the failure of the state
government in various fields," Wasnik said.
He said the Congress will be going to the people to
"expose the tall claims" of the JD(U)-BJP government in the
state and inform them about the achievements of the UPA
government at the Centre.
There will be an observer for each district to assess
the ground realities and short-list the names of the
candidates from the district. The names would then be sent to
the state Election Committee and then to the Central Election
Committee for final selection.
Congress has been out of power in the state for the
last two decades and in the 234-member Bihar Assembly, it has
only 10 members.
The party has already decided to go it alone in the
assembly polls scheduled to be held in October-November after
breaking ties with Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Lok Janshakti
Party in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
PTI
