Stop Chest-Thumping, Says Nitish Kumar to PM

Patna: As nearly one lakh people crowded into a public ground, some of them panda-climbing up poles to watch Prime Minister Narendra Modi, from a distance, Nitish Kumar urged Mr Modi to "stop the chest-thumping and show some moral courage."

The tweeted and unsolicited pointers to the PM are not selfless. Mr Kumar wants a third back-to-back term as Chief Minister of Bihar. That's wishful thinking, said the PM, whose Parivartan rally in Bhagalpur is the fourth in his election campaign. "Modi-Modi-Modi - even my opponents said only this," the PM said, referring to a rally held on Sunday in Patna by Mr Kumar and his allies. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and regional powerhouse Lalu Prasad shared top billing with Mr Kumar.

At his rallies, the PM has committed to special financial packages to assist Bihar, one of the most under-developed parts of the country. Mr Kumar dared him today to acknowledge that the money on offer has already been accounted for in earlier schemes given to the state by the Centre.

Mr Kumar also has not gotten over the PM saying a few weeks ago that "deceit and betrayal" are in the DNA of the Chief Minister. Extrapolating that as an insult to all Biharis, he has sought an apology, a demand he reiterated today.

The BJP and its three allies have decided that the PM will ask for votes directly for him, and not for a presumptive Chief Minister. This has pitched the election in Bihar to a full-blown confrontation between Mr Kumar and Mr Modi, who have, for years, and through a lengthy alliance of their parties, made no secret of their disregard for each other.

Mr Kumar has alleged that as Gujarat Chief Minister, the PM failed to do enough to stop the communal riots of 2002 (a Supreme Court inquiry has concluded that is not correct). When the BJP decided to pick Mr Modi as its candidate for PM, Mr Kumar exited an 18-year-long alliance.