Patna: Asserting that Bihar is still a "poor" state despite the 20 years of rule by the JD(U)-led NDA in the state, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday claimed that CM Nitish Kumar will not be made the chief minister if the ruling alliance is again voted to power.

Yadav also alleged that Kumar has been hijacked by the BJP, and two people from Gujarat - ostensibly referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah - are “controlling” Bihar.

The chief ministerial candidate of the INDIA bloc accused the Centre of shielding corrupt leaders and criminals in the state. Addressing a rally at Simri Bakhtiyarpur in Saharsa district, Yadav claimed, “Amit Shah has made it clear that elected legislators will decide the CM of Bihar after elections. Nitish Kumar will not be made the CM if the NDA is voted to power again.”

Taking a jibe at Kumar, also the JD(U) supremo, at a poll rally in Darbhanga district’s Keoti, he alleged, “Our ‘chacha’ (Nitish Kumar) is not in control of things. He has been hijacked by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, who are operating in Bihar from outside.”

The RJD leader appealed to people to vote for a “Bihari” and not “Bahri” (outsiders) in the ensuing assembly elections. Yadav promised that he would present a clean government if the opposition alliance came to power in the state. The former deputy CM also said that he will ensure a government that would listen to the people’s grievances and provide affordable medicines and jobs to them.