Nitish Kumar now the face of Lalu Yadav's legacy of crime: Ravi Shankar Prasad

NEW DELHI: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said BJP was "very happy" with the JD(U)-RJD alliance as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has forfeited the plank of good governance by becoming the face of Lalu Prasad's "legacy of crime and corruption".

"Lalu Prasad represents legacy of kidnapping, crime, malgovernance and corruption and today Nitish Kumar has become its face," he said, referring to RJD's 15-year rule which was dubbed "jungle-raj" by the BJP-JD(U) alliance before they parted ways.

"We are very happy with Nitish Kumar going with Lalu Prasad. Nitish Kumar has forfeited the entire plank of good governance. This is an ugly joke on the people of Bihar," Prasad told.

He said since Kumar parted ways with BJP in June 2013, the economic situation of Bihar has worsened with "lower investment and a lower GDP growth".

"Crime is rising... Bihar is limping back to old days for which it was quite infamous. People of Bihar need good governance, good growth and Bihar has a large number of young people aspiring for a change. This is BJP's real strength. We will give good governance. We will give stability," he said.

"The GDP was 15 per cent in 2012-13, it has now come down to 8 per cent," he claimed.

Asked if the party will name a chief ministerial candidate ahead of Bihar polls, Prasad said the BJP's Parliamentary Board will take a call on this.