Amit Shah sounds Bihar poll bugle, attacks Nitish, Lalu

Patna: Sounding the bugle for Bihar Assembly polls due months from now, BJP chief Amit Shah Tuesday mocked at the proposed merger of the 'Janata Parivar' ahead of the elections, saying "zero plus zero remains a zero" and asserted nobody can prevent the saffron party from coming to power in the state.

Shah also attacked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for "back-stabbing" BJP by disregarding the mandate given to BJP-JD(U) alliance to govern the state.

Kumar had ended JD(U)'s 17-year alliance with BJP in July 2013 after Narendra Modi was appointed its campaign committee chief for the Lok Sabha polls.

"Zero plus zero remains a zero," Shah said, asserting nobody can stop BJP from coming to power in Bihar by a two-thirds majority.

"Whether its 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) or 'mahavilay' (grand merger) nobody can stop BJP from coming to power in Bihar with a two-thirds majority in coming poll," Shah said addressing a party workers' congregation that coincided with 125th birth anniversary of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar.

The choice of the date for the conclave is being seen as an attempt by BJP to reach out to the numerically significant dalit votebank, a large section of which is unhappy over the removal of Jitan Ram Manjhi as chief minister.

Coming down hard on Nitish Kumar, Shah said he was trying to bring back 'jungle raj', a sobriquet once used to describe 'misgovernance' of the 15-year Lalu-Rabri rule.

"Once again he (Nitish) is trying to usher in 'jungle raj' (by joining hands with RJD) in the state which BJP along with JD(U) had ended earlier," he said, sharing stage with Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Both Shah and Singh dwelt on the achievements of the Modi government in the past 10 months and asked party workers to convince the people that a BJP dispensation in Bihar would help it become a "front ranking state" in the country".

Rajnath Singh attacked Nitish Kumar for having launched a sustained campaign of "spreading hatred" against the Modi government.

"Nitish Kumar is spreading hatred against us by propagating that we have economically harmed the state even after the government increased Bihar's share in central taxes from 32 per cent to 42 per cent. The fact is that we have given him more than what he sought," he said.

"Let them throw mud on us, we will do our duty to help Bihar become a front-runner among states in the country," he said.

He said the proposed merger of the old Janata Parivar was "merely with an aim to stop BJP from coming to power in the state".

Under attack from the opposition, including Nitish Kumar, over the land ordinance, Amit Shah tried to corner the Bihar Chief Minister, over the land owned by 12 sugar mills in the state, alleging it had been handed over to his "friends" and "Ministers' kin".

"I want to ask Nitish Kumar where has the land of 12 sugar mills gone. He has committed the sin of remaining silent on this. Who has given this land to his friends and kin of Ministers? Rail and road projects have been held up, stalling development of Bihar," the BJP chief said.

He also said "not an inch" of land to be acquired under the legislation will go to corporate houses and will be used for development of villages and for providing better irrigation facilities to farmers.

"Despite the disinformation campaign launched by the opposition on the land bill that this is being brought for corporates, I want to tell the BJP workers that not an inch of land will go to corporate houses and this land will be used for development of villages and for providing water to farmers' fields," he said.

The BJP president asked party workers to "dispel" the opposition propaganda.