Rahul Gandhi's ordinance tearing "dikhawa", says Nitish

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today termed as 'dikhawa' (farce) Rahul Gandhi's outburst late last year publicly denouncing a controversial central government ordinance to convey his will to fight corruption.

When Rahul Gandhi, Congress vice-president, had teared his own government's ordinance on tainted MPs "many people criticised him but I supported him," said Kumar, whose government is being supported by the Congress

"But, later I realised that it was a dikhawa (farce)," Kumar said about the September 27 incident in which Gandhi had slammed the ordinance brought in to negate a Supreme Court verdict on convicted lawmakers, describing it as "complete nonsense" and saying what "our government has done is wrong".

The Centre subsequently withdrew the ordinance and it resulted in RJD president Lalu Prasad losing his Chhapra Lok Sabha seat after conviction for five years in a fodder scam case. Prasad was jailed in October but he secured a bail in December.

Prasad yesterday met Gandhi, for the second time this month, amid indications that RJD and Congress were working out the nitty-gritty of forging a "secular alliance" in Bihar.

Kumar, also a senior JD(U) leader, trashed Rahul Gandhi's defence of a likely alliance with the RJD for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and said, there was huge difference between what (Rahul) Gandhi says and does.

"Even the public understands as much and will not buy his clarification on his party's alliance with the RJD in Bihar," the Chief Minister said.

Stating that the RJD had been part of the UPA-I and also supported UPA-II from outside, Kumar said, "given the similarity of thinking and behaviour of the two parties (RJD and Congress), their alliance is a natural one."

Kumar also took the Congress vice-president to task for his remarks that the party had taken action wherever corruption was involved.

"(Rahul) Gandhi will have to own up responsibility for not only the price rise and corruption during the UPA governments, but also for the work culture of its regime that allowed these problems to fester much to the chagrin of the masses," he said.