Bihar Assembly Election 2020: Nitish Kumar had faced public anger during his campaign.
Patna:
Nitish Kumar, appointed chief minister of Bihar for the seventh time but with diminished status in the ruling alliance after finishing at number 3, dismissed the label “arrogant” in an interaction with the media.
He also denied that his months of silence during the coronavirus lockdown contributed to public disenchantment with him and his Janata Dal United (JDU).
“Please don’t call me arrogant,” Nitish Kumar said, hands clasped, responding to the oft-repeated accusation.
In the election that ended on Tuesday, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Nitish Kumar won a majority in the 243-member assembly, fueled by the 74-seat BJP. The chief minister’s JDU saw its total drop to 43 from 71 in the previous election.
Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) emerged as the biggest party, prompting its leader Tejashwi Yadav to challenge Nitish Kumar yesterday to “listen to his conscience and resign”.
Even Nitish Kumar betrayed the reluctance when, when asked about his post as chief minister, said: “The NDA will decide.”
Nitish Kumar had faced public anger during his campaign and even faced an onion attack during a rally.
Asked about his lockdown silence, when his government came under criticism for handling the migrant crisis, Nitish Kumar said: “How can you not know what efforts we have made since the lockdown began? We have done so much to spread lies, what can we do? “
He also defended the uneven execution of his alcohol ban, stressing that there would always be “10 percent of people” who break the rules. “So many nations are trying to fight crime but it’s never at level zero. See how well we have been able to control crime in Bihar,” Kumar said.
“We passed on every step we took during the corona crisis. But some people continued to criticize us. If this gave people a bad idea, how can we stop it?”
