Tarari, Bihar:

Maintaining that he “made a mistake twice” in the past by joining hands with RJD, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said that now he would stay permanently with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Addressing a public meeting in favour of NDA nominee, Vishal Prashant of BJP for the Tarari assembly byelection, Kumar said, “I have said it earlier also…I am once again saying that we (BJP-JDU) were together earlier. I made a mistake twice in the past by joining hands with the RJD…I went ‘idhar udhar’ twice in the past…But now, I have again come to the NDA. I will remain permanently with the NDA”.

He said, “We have been working for the development of Bihar since 2005. Several infrastructural and development works have been done in Bihar after 2005…..and it will continue further under the NDA rule”.

Kumar accused RJD of trying to “polarise” votes on “communal lines” in the upcoming bypolls in the state.

“They (RJD) always try to create a divide on communal lines. When RJD was in power in Bihar, the state witnessed several communal clashes. But, now the situation is totally different when the NDA is in power. I am sure that people will give a befitting reply to the INDIA bloc in the coming bypolls in the state”, he said.

By-polls on four Bihar assembly seats will be held on November 13 for which results will be out on November 23.

All four assembly seats had fallen vacant after MLAs representing them were elected to the Lok Sabha. The four seats where by-polls will be held are Ramgarh, Tarari, Belaganj, and Imamganj.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)