Tejashwi slams Nitish over Niti Aayog's report on development

Turning the heat back on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has been raking up the "15 years of Jungle Raj" issue, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and the opposition Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial nominee Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday pointed at Niti Aayog's report wherein Bihar fares poorly on the parameters of development.

"Nitish Kumar always turns over the pages of the past to attack us but why does he avoid mentioning reasons behind Bihar being an under developed state? Why has Niti Aayog recognised Bihar as the most under developed state. It is in the last position in Niti Aayog's report," he said.

"It is a deliberate attempt to divert attention from real issues like unemployment, job creation, migration, flood situation. Why does he avoid talking on these issues during the election campaign," the RJD leader said while addressing a rally.

On Saturday, Tejashwi addressed a total of 17 rallies in constituencies where the second phase of polling is scheduled to be held on November 3.

Tejashwi also slammed JP Nadda, the national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and urged him to "avoid making people of Bihar fools".

"I challenge him to come on a common platform and discuss any issue. The discussion will be similar to the presidential election debates in the US where people can watch and judge who is right and who is wrong," he added.

In most of his rallies, Nitish Kumar, a senior Janata Dal-United leader, has criticised the RJD government's performance in Bihar between 1990 and 2005 when the party was in power .