NDA's Response: ‘Bihar is not Nitish Kumar and Nitish Kumar is not Bihar.'

The ruling National Democratic Alliance has posted a strong counter to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's open letter earlier today, in which he had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to retract his jibes about Kumar's 'DNA'.

"We want to humbly state, ‘Bihar is not Nitish Kumar and Nitish Kumar is not Bihar.’ The Bihar Chief Minister’s letter is a perfect illustration of how greed for power compels an individual to do anything, even trample over the history of a wonderful state like Bihar," said the letter, signed by Ram Vilas Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Upendra Kushwaha, Sushil Modi, and CP Thakur, and posted on Bharatiya Janata Party's website.

We want to humbly state, ‘Bihar is not Nitish Kumar and Nitish Kumar is not Bihar'. #NitishKumarIsNotBihar pic.twitter.com/tRLVwewu3v

— BJP (@BJP4India) August 5, 2015

Manjhi was sacked as chief minister by Kumar, the leader of Janata Dal (United), after he led a rebellion in the party. Kumar later said it had been a mistake to appoint Manjhi. Paswan, a minister in the union cabinet, is the president of Lok Janshakti Party, a BJP ally. Kushwaha, also a minister, is a leader of BJP's coalition partner Rashtriya Lok Samata Party. Sushil Modi, a former deputy chief minister in Kumar's cabinet, and Thakur are BJP leaders in Bihar.

The letter, posted on BJP's website, demanded that Kumar apologise. "The remarks of the Prime Minister pertained to Shri Kumar’s(and not that of Bihar’s) political DNA (and not your or Bihar’s DNA as he have mischievously misinterpreted). Mr. Nitish Kumar, before writing to the Prime Minister, please apologize to the people of Bihar for shamelessly distorting the words of the Prime Minister for petty political gains and humiliating Bihar in the process."

In his letter, Kumar had said that Modi's words had insulted people of Bihar and that it was unbecoming of the Prime Minister to use such language.

READ: Nitish Kumar Writes To Modi: Your 'DNA' Remark Have Insulted People, Take It Back

Here is the full text of NDA's rebuttal to Nitish:

Dear Sisters and Brothers of Bihar,

The Bihar Chief Minister’s letter this morning was terribly disappointing. It resembled a flop comedy film after being shown a much hyped and grand trailer. We were expecting he would raise issues pertaining to Bihar’s progress. Alas, were proven wrong.

We are deeply anguished that there is a clear, condemnable and calculated attempt to misappropriate the voice of Bihar as the voice of one man, the Chief Minister and his ambitions.

Never has Bihar tolerated any attempt by any individual to appropriate the voice and conscience of the people of Bihar. We want to humbly state, ‘Bihar is not Nitish Kumar and Nitish Kumar is not Bihar.’ The Bihar Chief Minister’s letter is a perfect illustration of how greed for power compels an individual to do anything, even trample over the history of a wonderful state like Bihar.

Clearly, the actions of the Chief Minister are in direct conflict with the ethos of Bihar, which for time immemorial has been the land of democracy, tolerance, dialogue and visionary leadership. It is from Bihar that Lord Buddha preached his message of peace and tolerance, it is Bihar whose history is rich with democratic republics and it is Bihar that had the might to keep even a feared conqueror like Alexander away. Neither is it the culture of Bihar to insult the poor and downtrodden, the Maha Dalits, which Shri Nitish Kumar did.

It is evident that Shri Nitish Kumar’s advisors have failed him yet again. This is, however not surprising considering how he was tricked by a coterie into believing that he will be the Prime Minister of India, which led him to break the alliance with the BJP. The rest is obviously history.

One would have expected atleast Shri Nitish Kumarto comprehend words and issues better. The Prime Minister, in his Muzaffarpur speech on 26th, made a very accurate and pertinent remark on Shri Nitish Kumar’spolitical journey, which in our view (and that of several others) is characterized by deceit, treachery and ungratefulness.

The remarks of the Prime Minister pertained to Shri Kumar’s(and not that of Bihar’s) political DNA (and not your or Bihar’s DNA as he have mischievously misinterpreted). Mr. Nitish Kumar, before writing to the Prime Minister, please apologize to the people of Bihar for shamelessly distorting the words of the Prime Minister for petty political gains and humiliating Bihar in the process.

We want to assure the people of Bihar that in the last year the progress of Bihar has received a great impetus after the NDA assumed office. Be it representation in the Ministry, availability of resources, allocation and completion of development projects, the support has been phenomenal. Those who were pained that the Prime Minister never came to Bihar in these fourteen months may answer where that pain disappeared when his predecessor never found time to visit Bihar once during his ten year tenure except for an aerial survey.

The ABCD of Shri Nitish Kumar’s politics is Arrogance, Betrayal, Conspiracy and Deceit. No wonder, Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav said about him, “ Aisa Koi Saha Nahi Jisko Nitish Kumar Ne Thaga Nahi.” Who knows him better than the dear Lalu ji. And curiously, did he ever write an open letter to him for saying this?

The learned Bihar CM quotes JP and Lohia but we shudder to think what they would say on hisnewfound friends and those he issupporting (first tacitly and now openly). How can he ever condone the cardinal sin of supporting one of the most corrupt and regressive governments in the history of Independent India, the UPA2.

When Shri Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with the BJP do you know what was the biggest casualty- development of Bihar and aspirations of the people of Bihar. You voted for the NDA with a ray of hope and promise of growth. That stands shattered in front of one man’s personal ego and ambitions. The governance of Shri Nitish Kumar post the alliance with BJP ended (after June 2013 and after February 2015)clearly illustrates that the myth Shri Kumar created of being a ‘Sushashan Babu’ was precisely that- a golden myth.

On a different note, we are very happy that the Bihar Chief Minister found a new vocation- of writing letters to Shri Narendra Modi. He has even created a special website for the same. Trust this is a first of many letter and rest assured, he will have all the time to write letters after November 2015. Incidentally, we were amused to see him share the letter first on precisely those mediums he consistently rubbished as trivial.

Sisters and brothers of Bihar, it is for you to decide. Do we want those who will divert from the real issues and focus on mindless politics or do we want a team that will spend every single moment for Bihar’s progress and to make Bihar the most developed state in India.

Bihar is yearning for development and good governance, not stale politics, ego battles and ‘Jungle Raj.’

Yours,

Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi, Shri Upendra Kushwaha, Shri Sushil Modi, Dr. CP Thakur

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