Lalu better than Nitish says Uma

Patna: Former firebrand BJP leader Uma Bharti on Friday left people agape when she said that the fifteen years rule of Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi in Bihar was "far better" than incumbent Nitish Kumar's 'misrule' in the state.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday after completing the election campaign for her party in the Lok Sabha seat of Nalanda, Bharti said, "Crime has become an industry here to a great extent. The state lacks basic infrastructure and there have been no developments as such taking place in the state".

Bharti has been campaigning for VHP-backed Independent candidate, Pradeep Joshi, in the by-poll for the Bhagalpur Parliamentary seat.

The polls are scheduled for November 6, where former Union Minister Shahnawaz Hussain and one time close associate of Bharti, is the BJP candidate.

Taking her fight against the NDA member and Samta Party President, Bharti further added, "Bihar has turned into a trading state with the big industries coming here and using the raw materials locally produced. No employment has been provided in these big industries. Nitish Kumar has failed as a Chief Minister. The government under Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi was far better than the present one."

Her statement against Nitish left many astonished, as she was the one who had been campaigning against Lalu Prasad in the last Assembly election, just a year ago.

Looking disappointed over her party's (Bhartiya Jan Shakti Party) loss in the recently held election in Vidisha Lok Sabha seat and Bada Malhera Assembly constituency in her native state of Madhya Pradesh, Bharti once again renewed her tirade against BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani.

"Atalji and Advaniji are in the grip of power brokers. Their plight can be likened to that of widowed aunts whose feet are touched by everybody but none caring to listen to their advice," said Bharati after ruling out her re-entry to the parent party.

"There is no question of my return to BJP. Instead I would like to ask Advani when he would leave Jinnah and return to Ram? When will Rajnath Singh give up politics of crime and corruption and return to clean politics? And when will Jaswant Singh leave Kandahar and return to India?" Bharti quipped.

She also said that it was her good luck to quit BJP at the right time as the party had "shunned" its pro-Hindutva ideology.