Nitish returns Rs 5 cr to Gujarat in rebuff to Modi

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today sought to rebuff his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi by returning the Rs five crore aid given by him for the Kosi flood victims, drawing sharp attack from BJP and other parties like Congress, RJD and LJP.

Kumar, who was angry after local papers last week carried advertisements about the help given by the Gujarat government for the 2008 Kosi flood victims, returned the money, which was lying unspent in the CM's relief fund, officials said.

The Bihar Chief Minister had described Modi government's claim of liberal donation as "uncivilised".

Reacting to Kumar's decision to return the money, the Gujarat government said the move was "unfortunate".

"The decision is unfortunate," Gujarat minister and government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas told reporters in Dwarka in Gujarat. The assistance was given as a token of brotherly affection, he said.

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said in Delhi that the funds were given in a spirit of solidarity and empathy with the flood victims. "I wonder if only the money is being returned or the feeling of empathy, solidarity and spirit of togetherness too," Sitharaman said.

Hitting out at Kumar, actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha said it reflected the JD(U) leader's "arrogance".

The BJP Lok Sabha member from Patna Saheb said Kumar's action seems to be inspired by his overwhelming concern for minority votes in the coming Bihar Assembly elections.

Terming the decision as "arbitrary", he said the money did not belong either to Kumar or Modi but was meant for flood victims. He urged BJP president Nitin Gadkari and leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj to immediately call Kumar's "bluff".

Senior BJP leader and Bihar minister Giriraj Singh said Kumar's decision was "uncultured". The return of the funds was "against Constitutional prestige", he said adding, "It reflects an uncultured decision."

The Bihar Chief Minister had also taken strong exception to the use of a photograph showing him holding Modi's hand in another advertisement published in local dailies and had even threatened to take legal action against those responsible.

But despite the spat between Kumar and Modi, JD-U chief Sharad Yadav asserted that the party's alliance with the BJP in Bihar would continue. "The ties between the two parties are old and they will continue. There is no question of any break-up," he said. Assembly polls in Bihar are just a few months away.

Yadav said the "unpleasantness" over the publication of Kumar's photograph with that of Modi was over the very day it had appeared and pointed out that the two parties had fought the just-concluded the Rajya Sabha polls together.