Chacha is right, NDA will be wiped out: Tejashwi on Nitish's 'CM Modi' gaffe

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday said Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's goof-up in wishing another "CM term" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed a "sense of imminent defeat" in the NDA camp.

Yadav was referring to the Janata Dal (U) supremo's gaffe at an election rally in Pataliputra Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday, when he wished Modi, who was at the helm of Gujarat before becoming the PM, to become mukhya mantri (chief minister) once again. Other leaders present on the dais realised the gaffe, following which Kumar corrected his statement.

"Dil ki baat zubaan pe aa jaati hai (what's on the mind slips out of the mouth). What the CM said is correct... Modiji is not going to become PM again," Yadav said, addressing a rally in Jagdishpur with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sharing the stage.

"We know that our respected chachaji (uncle) wants from his heart that the BJP is removed from power at the Centre so that Bihar develops without any bias. We are taking forward his campaign. Nitishji used to say those who have come in fourteen (2014) will go in twenty-four (2024)... Modi-led NDA will be completely routed," Yadav said.

Other INDIA bloc leaders, including Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation general-secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahni also attended the rallies addressed by Rahul Gandhi in Bihar during the day.

On PM Modi's recent "looted Bihar" remarks, Yadav said, "The people of Bihar are not afraid of anyone...A 73-year-old man (Modi) is threatening a 34-year-old youth with jail. People of Bihar are not afraid of the people of Gujarat... the people of Bihar are not afraid of anyone, our Lord Krishna was born in jail."

Addressing a rally in Bihar last week, PM Modi had said the NDA government would not spare those who looted the state. "The NDA government will not spare those who looted Bihar. I guarantee the people of Bihar that those who looted the poor and took land in exchange for jobs will face justice. The countdown for their jail journey has begun. Once their helicopter rides end, their prison terms will start. This is Modi ki guarantee," he said.

Yadav retorted, "He (PM) is coming here and threatening to send us to jail... is he above the courts? This proves that agencies work according to him. This person has destroyed all the government institutions. His dictatorship will last only till 4 June (the day Lok Sabha election results are to be declared)."