"KCR gave Nitish Kumar mantra to make Bihar PFI-yukt, Hindu-mukt": Giriraj Singh

New Delhi: Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday took a dig at K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) who met Nitish Kumar yesterday as part of his efforts to unite the Opposition, and said that the Telangana Chief Minister "dodged" the question if the Bihar CM will be the Prime Ministerial face of the Opposition in the 2024 general elections.

Singh alleged that KCR gave Kumar the 'mantra' on how to make Bihar "PFI-yukt and Hindu-mukt". KCR was on a one-day visit to Bihar where he met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and held discussions over various issues.Both the leaders also addressed a press conference together where they were confronted with a question if KCR would back Nitish Kumar as the PM face in the next general elections, which the Telangana CM dodged stating that they would "sit and talk".

Giriraj Singh reacted to the incident while speaking to ANI and said, "KCR dodged and did not respond to the media's question if Nitish Kumar would be the Opposition's face for the prime ministerial candidate. He (KCR) didn't come to make him (Nitish Kumar) the face of the Opposition. He had given the slogan "BJP-mukt Bharat". He came here to give a mantra to Nitish Kumar on how to make "PFI-yukt Bihar", "aatank-yukt Bihar" and "Hindu-mukt Bihar"."

The Union Minister, who is an MP from Bihar's Begusarai, said that there is a "gamble" going on among Nitish Kumar, KCR and Rahul Gandhi on the prime ministerial candidate.
"There is a gamble going on in between Nitish Kumar, KCR and Rahul Gandhi on who will be the prime ministerial candidate. KCR is planning not to free India from the BJP but from Hindus. Like he supported those who raised the 'Sar tan se juda' slogans in Telangana, he is conspiring to establish PFI in Bihar," he alleged.

Calling out the Opposition leaders aspiring to race against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the post in 2024, Singh dared them to "contest alone".
"None of them has the courage to contest against Narendra Modi alone. They should accept that they do not have a PM face in front of Modi. If they have the courage, they should contest alone against PM Modi," he said.
Reacting on the alleged murder of a 15-year-old girl who was burnt alive in Jharkhand's Dumka, the Minister said that the Hemant Soren government is "equally to be held responsible" for the incident.

He also accused the Jharkhand government of doing "appeasement politics".
"Hemant government is equally responsible for her death. The government is only doing appeasement politics. Instead of acting severely against the culprits, he is busy saving his government. Not a single leader of his government has met the family of the deceased girl. This shows that the government is doing appeasement politics.' he said.

"Love jihad has increased to a big extent today. There is a conspiracy going on to spoil the atmosphere of the country," Singh added.

Earlier on Wednesday, a BJP delegation comprising Nishikant Dubey, Manoj Tiwari and Kapil Mishra met with the family of the deceased girl and handed over a sum of Rs 28 lakh to the family.

Speaking to the media, BJP leader Kapil Mishra termed the death of the girl as a "preplanned murder" and demanded that the authorities probe the matter from a "love jihad angle."

"Who is the mastermind? Who is the one who trained him? Doing such a thing without training is not possible. It is a pre-planned murder. There should be an investigation from the love jihad angle. Those who are trying to cover up the incident are committing the mistake of doing appeasement," Mishra said.

He also hit out at Chief Minister Hemant Soren for not sending any of his representatives to meet the family of the deceased girl and alleged that the government was "trying to cover up the incident".

"The elected government is trying to cover up the incident. The local MLA is nowhere to be seen. Louis Marandi has been standing with the family since day 1. Nishikant Dubey, and Manoj Tiwari have come from Delhi. Why is the chief minister not visiting the family? Questions are being raised on the DSP, why has he not been removed yet? These are very serious questions," Mishra said. (ANI)

Manoj Tiwari who was also a part of the BJP delegation demanded the "strictest" punishment for the culprits. (ANI)