Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will complete his second term on November 25. Before the Model Code of Conduct comes into effect in the poll-bound State, he will be presenting the comprehensive Report Card of his nearly 10-year long tenure on July 27. Also, he will enlist all the works done by his Government, which had set an agenda for governance while taking over in 2005. On the eve of the presentation of the report card, the Chief Minister said he was satisfied that he almost fulfilled all the promises he made and completed the tasks for the welfare and development of Bihar and its people. Nitish mounted a counter attack on PM Narendra Modi for his questionable DNA remark and said this was a slur on the son of a freedom fighter. Excerpts from the interview:
Q: The PM at his Muzaffarpur rally questioned your DNA and used strong language against you. How do you react to itIJ
A: The tone, tenor and content of the PM’s speech were improper for a Prime Minister. In the past, no PM used such language against his opponents in election campaigns. I am the son of a freedom fighter, and he questioned my DNA — or blood in common terminology. His ancestors had nothing to do with freedom struggle nor had faith in the secular and nationalist ideologies. He also talked about the cancellation of dinner by me in early 2010, but if he was so pained and hurt why his party continued association with me and went to polls in 2010 under my leadershipIJ Why didn’t the BJP severe ties with me at that momentIJ He should have been happy when I parted ways in 2013 but still the BJP is accusing me of betrayal.
Q: You resigned from the office in June 2014 after defeat in the lok Sabha polls and handed over the mantle to one of your Ministers Jitan Ram Manjhi. later on you realised it was a mistake by making him the CM. On whose suggestions did you decide to remove him and whyIJ
A: All the leaders and workers of my party were feeling worried and aghast and had been requesting me to remove him and come back. Initially, I did not listen to them even as the number of party men pressing me for this kept on growing. Even Mulayam Singh Yadav told me many times why I stepped down and made Manjhi the CM. Eventually I had to accept their demands, though with heavy heart. Governance became a bigger victim during that nine months time. I made him a leader otherwise who else knew him before June 2014. And today I firmly feel I took a right decision by removing him because he had set a different agenda and his design was to shift to the BJP being in the office of the CM. See what happened in Muzaffarpur on Saturday where Manjhi was seen sharing jokes with PM Narendra Modi.
Q: The BJP is going hammer and tongs against you. How are you going to counter themIJ
A: let them continue with their attacks, the people are not going to be swayed by their falsehood. The masses have realised that this is a party of jumle bazi (lip service and hollow promises). The BJP is using money power in a big way and we recently detected that 20 lakh saris are being brought to Bihar from Surat in Gujarat for distribution among voters. They will resort to many more such vulgar display. They want to win in Bihar by hook or by crook. But they will not succeed.
Q: Bihar is witnessing communal disturbances on slightest provocations for almost a year. What is the reason and trend and who is responsibleIJ
A: Yes, it is true. The numbers of communal incidents have increased since the later part of 2013 after I severed ties with the BJP. The trend is localised tensions which are engineered to impact a few villages. There are certainly some reasons behind these incidents and political involvement cannot be ruled out. This could also be an attempt to polarise the society. It is a historical fact that the BJP has been a beneficiary of communal disturbances.
Q: This is going to be the last report card of your second term. Are you satisfied with the works you didIJ
A: Whatever I said and set the agenda of governance in 2005, I almost fulfilled all works and even went beyond that in some sectors. A number of pioneering works have been done in the agriculture, education, health and infrastructure. We succeeded in our basic responsibility of establishing law and order. The fear from the minds of the people has gone and they feel secured. Over 96,000 criminals and outlaws have been convicted by the competent courts. People firmly believe that the criminals would be caught and they are caught without any discrimination or political interference.