By IANS,
Patna : Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader and former central minister Mohammad Taslimuddin quit Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party and joined the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by Lalu Prasad here Tuesday.
After questioning Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s agenda of development and good governance, Taslimuddin announced at a press meet here that he joined the RJD. He was accompanied by Lalu Prasad.
Taslimuddin said Nitish Kumar was neither a “development man” nor a “good governance man” and that under his rule, development and good governance have become a farce.
“There is no truth that Bihar is developing fast and that Nitish Kumar has established law and order in the state,” Taslimuddin said.
“(Nitish) Kumar is 100 percent untruthful. He did not fulfil promises made to me for development of Seemanchal districts comprising of Kishanganj, Araria and Purnia,” Taslimuddin said.
Taslimuddin, a four-time Lok Sabha member from Kishanganj who lost the last general elections to Congress candidate Mohammad Asrarul Haque, alleged that Nitish Kumar’s government was neglecting the development of the Seemanchal region.
Taslimuddin is the third leader to revolt against Nitish Kumar. Earlier, BJP MP from Purnia Uday Singh and JD(U) MLA Chhedi Paswan had spoken out against the state government.
Taslimuddin had served as union minister of state for home in the H.D. Deve Gowda ministry and as minister of state in the food ministry in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) I. He switched over to the JD-U from the RJD in May 2010.
His son Sarfaraz Alam is a JD-U legislator from Jokihat in Araria district.