Lalu and Nitish waiting to betray each other: BJP

Taking a dig at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD President Lalu Prasad's efforts to form an alliance, BJP today said both the leaders were "waiting to betray each other" and that their coming together was nothing but an outcome of their fear towards the saffron party.

"Both of them talk sweetly to each other about mergers and alliances but are holding daggers in their hands. Both of them are actually ready to stab each other in the back. They are just waiting to betray each other," senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told reporters.

"Their alliance efforts are nothing but an outcome of their fear towards their opposition (BJP). They are afraid of us hence trying to come together," he added.

The senior BJP leader pointed out that the distrust of Kumar and Prasad towards each other could be gauged from the fact that "Kumar has started talking to different political parties for alliance".

"Kumar is now talking to BSP leader Mayawati. Let him talk to any party be it CPI, CPI(M), CPI (ML) or Congress. The public has now set its mind for a change of government in the state and it will see to it," Modi added.

He also criticised the state government for sending six of its working and retired police officials to Delhi to work with the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) there.

"The anti-corruption efforts in Bihar has come to a standstill due to a shortage of officials in the Vigilance Investigation Bureau, Special Vigilance Unit and similar bodies. There has been no progress in cases of disproportionate assets of government officials," he said.

Modi said Kumar should reveal how many DA cases have come to light in the last two years after he broke away from the NDA and how many schools have been opened in the buildings built by corrupt means.

The senior BJP leader alleged that the state government was "shying away" to initiate probe into a multi-crore medicine scam, and said this denoted its lack of interest in crackdown over corruption.

He also said that the coming state Assembly elections will be a contest between "tried, tested and failed" leaders of JD (U), RJD and Congress and "tried and tested" leaders of BJP like LJP Chief Ram Vilas Paswan and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) leader Upendra Kushwaha.

Modi shied away from replying in detail on why BJP was not announcing its candidates for the coming elections or the Chief Ministerial nominee, but said that "it will be done when the time comes".

Reacting to questions on the anger and grievances of Patna Saheb MP and actor Shatrughan Sinha, Modi said "He is a big leader of national level, and it will not be good to omment on him."

Sinha had recently criticised the treatment meted out to him by party leaders and claimed that he was not being invited to  important functions.