File Photo: Sonia Gandhi, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad at the Swabhiman Rally in Patna on Sunday. (PTI)
The BJP today said that Opposition 'Mahagath bandhan' or 'grand alliance' was a "sinking ship" from which Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was the first one to jump off to save himself and his party.
"It has now been proved that grand alliance is a sinking ship. Yadav was the first one to jump off from it because nobody wants to be on a ship which is going down. It seems that his 'swabhiman' (self-respect) awakened after the Swabhiman Rally of the alliance," BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters in Patna.
Expressing happiness over SP quitting the grand alliance, Mr Hussain pointed out that Mr Yadav must have realised that senior leaders among the constituents, who had worked with socialist leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia and Jaya Prakash Narayan were not ready to hobnob with the Congress.
"The mammoth rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Bhagalpur was an eye-opener for Yadav. He must have understood that the grand alliance has no chance to win in Bihar and a defeat will adversely affect his party's chances in UP Assembly elections," Mr Hussain added.
The grand alliance, comprising six Janata Parivar parties including JD(U), RJD, SP, was cobbled up at the behest of Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar to throw a challenge to BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in state Assembly polls scheduled in October-November this year.
Mr Yadav was unanimously accepted as its President. Mr Hussain referred to RJD vice-president Raghunath Jha quitting the party and said that it was just the beginning of the end of grand alliance. He added that many more desertions would follow in the coming days.
"The opposition should stop calling it 'grand alliance.' There is nothing grand about it. Modi's Bhagalpur rally was a political tsunami and the alliance has realised that it will obliterate JD(U) and RJD from the state," he added.
Hitting out at Kumar, the senior BJP leader said he was still being egoistic while talking to the people of Bihar and the recent example was the way he spoke to statistical workers during his programme at Samastipur.
"The workers were raising their demands at which Kumar scolded them and threatened that their file was with him, and if they made noise, his one signing (by Kumar) will dump them on street. I want to ask him whether it is his habit to insult the people of Bihar," Mr Hussain said.
"There are over 50,000 statistical workers in the state and they are also a part of the public in the state. They will press button and pull down Kumar's government," he added.
Mr Hussain went on to criticize Mr Kumar's recently released vision document for development of the state as "election manifesto".
The BJP leader also suggested that the Bihar Chief Minister should stop bragging about being a son of a freedom fighter because those whose father or grandfather are not freedom fighters are also patriots and equal citizen of the country.