Kushwaha takes U-turn on his ‘bloodshed’ statement

PATNA: A day after threatening bloodshed in case of any “results loot”, RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha took a U-turn on Wednesday and said he had just warned against any tampering with the results as that would lead to unrest among people to the extent that the administration might not control the situation.
“I have not said I will cause bloodshed. I only said that earlier we had heard of booth loot and now people are talking of EVM loot,” Kushwaha told reporters on Wednesday.Earlier on Tuesday, Kushwaha had said, “Sadkon par khoon bahega (there’ll be blood on the streets).”
Leader of opposition in the state assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, supported Kushwaha and said his sentiment should be taken into consideration. RJD MLC Subodh Rai also came forward in Kushwaha’s defence and said the RLSP chief had cited socialist leader Karpoori Thakur’s teachings.
However, NDA leaders attacked Kushwaha for his provocative speech and said he was taking EVM tampering excuse for his massive defeat.
BJP state president Nityanand Rai said Kushwaha’s statement was unfortunate. “They (Mahagathbandhan) are jittery and raising doubts on constitutional institutions. I was shocked after listening to his (Kushwaha’s) statements regarding bloodshed. Should politics be done ignoring ethics and principal?” Rai said.
JD(U) MLC Tanweer Akhtar urged the Election Commission to debar Kushwaha from contesting at least one election in future. “EC should take strict action against Kushwaha. In a democratic country, such a provocative statement should be condemned by all. He should not be allowed to contest the next election,” he said.
JD(U) spokesperson Sanjay Singh said, “We are not wearing bangles. If the colour of your blood is red, so is ours. Don’t commit any mistake or else it will lead to big problem.”