Buxar (Bihar), Apr 11- In the midst of speculation that he may ditch NDA in favour of the Third Front, JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today strongly backed BJP leader L K Advani as the next Prime Minister. “A Prime Minister should also be a leader. Therefore, form a government at the Centre under the leadership of L K Advani,” he said addressing a rally sharing the stage with BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Advani, their first joint meeting in the state.
JD(U) and BJP are part of a coalition government in Bihar but of late there has been speculation that Kumar could switch to the Third Front in the post poll scenario. Recently he said that as of today he is with the BJP. He was also critical of Varun Gandhi for his hate speeches and was not enthusiastic about Narendra Modi campaigning in Bihar.Echoing Advani’s views, the Chief Minister said he had no personal complaints aganist the Prime Minister whom he described as a “good person and a scholar”.
“But the biggest problem with him,” he said “is that although he is the Prime Minister, he is not the leader of his party or his alliance.” In his speech, Advani said Manmohan Singh is a “weak Prime Minister” even though he may not like being called so.
“When I say he is a weak Prime Minister, he feels bad. But the fact is that H D Deve Gowda when he was the Prime Minister took decisions on his own even if he had only five Ministers of his own,” Advani said. “For every decision he (Singh) sends somebody to 10 Janpath (Sonia Gandhi’s residence)”.
Observing that the elections are crucial for the country, Advani said the “country today needs honest and efficient leadership”.“I have seen all the Lok Sabha polls since 1952..This election will be very crucial for the country.” “The country has the potential to become one of the most advanced nations in the world. For that to happen we will have to ensure good governance both at the state level and at the Centre,” he said adding “we will make 21 st century the century of India.” Advani also heaped praise on Nitish Kumar he had proposed his name for the top job in the state despite opposition from a section of the JD(U) leaders.
Supporting formation of smaller states, he said that while smaller South Indian states formed on the basis of language have progressed ahead, the big Hindi speaking North Indian states have lagged behind on development.
“States like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan which are large in size have lagged behind compared to Southern States.”
Nitish Kumar
