‘Pati-Patni’ Raj Ruined Bihar For 15 Years: Nitish Jabs Former Ally Lalu At Nawada Poll Rally

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asserted that JDU-BJP ties date as far back as 2005 and the two parties parted ways for sometimes to "settle our differences".

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Friday took potshots at his former ally Lalu Prasad Yadav, claiming that the state was in an abysmal condition during the rule of “Pati Patni (husband and wife)”, in an apparent reference to the tenures of Lalu and his wife Rabri Devi as chief ministers.

Addressing a poll rally in support of BJP candidate Vivek Thakur in Nawada district, Nitish Kumar asked people if they remember those days when the state was under “pati-patni” rule and nobody dared to step out of from their house in the evening as crime ran rampant across Bihar.

“What was the situation in Bihar earlier? For 15 years, the state was under the rule of ‘pati-patni’. Do you recall the days when no one was able to go out of their house in the evening?,” Nitish asked while taking a sly dig at the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and his wife Rabri Devi.

“Yaad kariye inhone kabhi kuch kiya bhi hai? (Try to remember if these people did anything noteworthy),” Nitish asked the crowd at the public meeting in Warisaliganj.

‘JDU-BJP will never part again’

The Janata Dal (United) chief who turned the political world upside down earlier this year when he returned to the BJP-led NDA, asserted that his party’s ties with the saffron brigade date back to 2005 and they parted ways for a while to “settle some differences” but are back together now and will stay that way.

“You are aware that after we got an opportunity to serve the people in November 2005, we started working together with the BJP. We went our separate ways twice in between, only to settle our differences and get back with each other. Now, we are not going to separate,” Nitish asserted.

No development during RJD era

The CM compared the current state of Bihar with that of the 1990-2005 RJD era, asking if there was any development during that time. He also noted that over 4 lakh jobs were provided by his dispensation to youths in the state.

“4 lakh youths have received employment letters. They (RJD) got the opportunity (to serve the people) from 1990 to 2005. How much development did they bring to the state?. Now, as the state is progressing, they want to rule us. But we will never let that happen. There are no riots in Bihar anymore. Earlier, communal riots were par for the course here.”

(With ANI inputs)