‘People who switch sides for power are CM of Bihar…’: Amit Shah slams leaders 'sitting in Congress' lap'

Saran: Apparently targetting Nitish Kumar on the occasion of his 120th birth anniversary of Jayprakash Narayan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday draws a parallel with the current politics in Bihar, saying JP never did anything for power and worked for principles all his life while "people who switched sides for power is Chief Minister of Bihar".

He unveiled the statue of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, the Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader, at his ancestral village Sitab Diara area located on the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border on the occasion of his 120th birth anniversary.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also present at the event. During his address at the event, the Home Minister announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to build a research center with a memorial here for the coming generation.

"Modi ji has decided to build a research center with a memorial here so that the coming generation could give a new impetus to the development of the country by taking inspiration from JP`s ideas. After the formation of R&D center, students will be able to do research on the principles of JP and his work done for rural development by staying here," said Shah.

He further slammed the Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar, who recently broke ties with NDA and joined hands with RJD and Congress to form the government stating that JP Narayan never did anything for power and worked for principles all his life.

"I`d like to ask the people of Bihar today, leaders who achieved heights through the JP movement, by taking his name are sitting in the lap of Congress today just for the sake of power -are you with them? Is this the politics of the principles of Jayprakash Narayan? JP never did anything for power and worked for principles all his life. Today, people who switch sides for power are CM of Bihar..." said the HM in Sitab Diara.

He further said that this is not the path shown by Jayprakash Narayan. "He never did anything for power and worked for principles all his life. Today, people who switch sides 5 times for power are the CM of Bihar," said Amit Shah.

Jaiprakash Narayan formed the first non-Congress government in the country by uniting the entire Opposition against the corrupt and unjust rule that imposed emergency. "JP set an excellent example of change in front of the country by staying out of power," he said.

Narayan was a socialist and political leader. He is remembered for leading the mid-1970s opposition parties against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, for whose overthrow he had called for a "total revolution" (Sampoorna Kranti).

In 1999, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India`s highest civilian award, in recognition of his social service. Other awards include the Magsaysay award for Public Service in 1965.

Jayprakash Narayan was born on 11 October 1902 in the village of Sitabdiara, Ballia district, United Provinces, British India (present-day Saran district, Bihar, India) Sitabdiara is a large village, straddling two states and three districts -- Saran and Bhojpur in Bihar and Ballia in Uttar Pradesh.