Taking a potshot at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on the issue of advertisements featuring him with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Saturday asked the Janata Dal - United leader to sever ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Referring to Kumar's statement to the media -- expressing his disapproval over the advertisements in local newspapers -- Prasad said there was nothing new about the issue.
"In fact, Kumar who had said that he would not share a platform with Modi after the Gujarat riots, had later surfaced with him at a public meeting in Ludhiana, before the last Lok Sabha polls," he said.
Kumar on Saturday threatened to take legal action against those responsible for the advertisement and also termed as 'uncivilised' the Gujarat government's claim through another advertisement that it had donated 'liberally' to Bihar after the 2008 Kosi floods.
Accusing Kumar of indulging in 'a high political drama' on the issue of the advertisement, Prasad said the Bihar CM had been 'exposed' because of his alliance with a party which was 'communal to the core'.
"Nitish and Modi are two faces of the same coin. I had disallowed Modi to visit Bihar earlier, but now a drama is being enacted for the minorities in Bihar by the state government, (which is) allowing Modi's visit," Prasad said.
"The people of Bihar have identified the real face of Kumar. Nitish Kumar should leave the chair, sever ties with the BJP or else he should merge the entire JD-U with the BJP instead of playing dirty secular cards," he said.
Referring to Kumar's statement that he would return the unutilised funds donated to the Bihar CM's relief fund by the Gujarat government, at the time of the floods caused by the turbulent Kosi in 2008, Prasad said he should do so without much delay.
