Better late than ever: Athawale on Nitish return

Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Sunday welcomed JD(U) president Nitish Kumar’s decision to join the BJP-led NDA, calling it “better late than ever”.

The central minister of state for social justice and empowerment said Kumar has taken the right decision at the right time to be a part of the NDA.

“We had told Nitish ji not to go with Lalu Yadav (RJD chief) saying ‘they won’t treat you well’. But better late than never... I had told him to align with Modi ji… Now, he has made the right decision, so I am thanking him,” Athawale told reporters.

The Union minister claimed that the opposition grouping has got a big blow due to Kumar’s departure. “Narendra Modi will become prime minister again in 2024. Nobody can stop the ‘vikas rath’ of Narendra Modi and we all are sitting on it,” Athawale said.

Athawale, who is the president of the Republican Party of India (A), also took a potshot at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

“When the Congress government was there for 70 years, why Rahul Gandhi’s party did not unite the country? The Constitution is already uniting the country. Narendra Modi is there to do this. Gandhi should rather take a yatra to unite the Congress,” he said.

Referring to Gandhi’s defeat in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi constituency, earlier considered a secure political base for his family, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Athawale quipped that the Congress leader should be worried about his own party.

(With agency inputs)