'Today Palturam became Kalturam': BJP leader's jibe after Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar CM

New Delhi: Taking a dig at Nitish Kumar after he took oath as Bihar chief minister, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh said that 'Palturam' became 'Kalturam'. He also mentioned when RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav had called Kumar a 'snake'. In an interaction with the press, Singh said, "Today 'Palturam' became 'Kalturam'. I came to know that Lalu Yadav congratulated him (Nitish Kumar). Lalu Yadav once tweeted that he is a snake, like a snake sheds its skin, he sheds his alliance and takes a new one every two years."

The BJP leader also shared a 2017 tweet by Lalu Yadav in which he mentioned that Nitish Kumar sheds skin in the same manner as a snake does.

"Nitish Kumar has a new skin every two years, any doubt?" the RJD founder had tweeted shortly after Kumar parted ways with his party in 2017 and joined hands with the BJP.

It is to be noted that Nitish has ditched the BJP for a second time and joined hands with Lalu-led RJD to form a new Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar.

The BJP has accused Nitish Kumar of "insulting and betraying" people's mandate while blaming his prime ministerial ambition for the JD(U)'s decision to walk out of the NDA and joining hands with the RJD-led opposition.

BJP noted that he had snapped ties with the RJD in 2017 over allegations of corruption against its leader Tejashwi Yadav and asked how he will justify the alliance with the party again.

They also threw the jibe "Paltu Ram" (one who keeps changing sides), first used by Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav for Kumar, at the Janata Dal (United) leader and rejected claims that their party was undermining him.

RCP Singh, once a close aide of Kumar and now out of favour, also accused the chief minister of betraying the mandate of the 2020 assembly polls in the favour of the BJP-led NDA.

Giriraj Singh, a Union Minister, said that the BJP had acknowledged him as a chief ministerial candidate first in 1996 when it was a much bigger party. The BJP accepted him as chief minister again after the 2020 assembly polls even though its tally was bigger than the JD(U)'s, several BJP leaders noted.

(With agency inputs)