‘Maharashtra episode not to impact oppn unity move’

PATNA: The JD(U) of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar blamed BJP for the crossover of Ajit Pawar-led faction of NCP to NDA in Maharashtra on Sunday and said it would have no impact on the ongoing move to unite the opposition parties across the country against PM Narendra Modi and his party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
While dubbing the Maharashtra episode as “cowardly and shameful”, JD(U) chief spokesperson K C Tyagi told TOI that the BJP wanted to achieve majority in the legislative houses by “manoeuvring” instead of contesting and winning elections.Tyagi also said the development shows that the people sitting in power at the Centre have become ‘panicky’ by JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar’s efforts to unite the opposition parties against BJP. He also alleged that the NCP MLAs, who have sided with Ajit Pawar, were allegedly “intimidated through misuse of central investigating agencies”.
Tyagi also pointed out that during the opposition parties’ meeting in Patna on June 23, many leaders had expressed apprehension that the BJP-led NDA government may try to harass them by conducting raids on their premises. “The opposition parties will now raise the issue of “frequent misuse” of centralagencies against the opposition leaders during the monsoon session of Parliament beginning on July 20,” Tyagi said.