Nitish cannot prove majority, says Hegde

He felt the NDA should not have, in the first place, staked claim to form the government when the people had not given it or any other formation a clear mandate.

“Whether it proves its majority or not, the Nitish Kumar Government will expose itself to charges of horsetrading and defections which is something the JD (U) had always fought against,” he said.

Even if it were to prove its majority, the government would not last. “There won’t be stability or development. In such a situation how can you end the jungle raj?” Hegde remarked. He was also critical of the NDA government in Bihar for accepting support from MLAs with criminal records.

“What kind of a government can Nitish give if he takes their support?” he asked.

He said Governor Vinod Pande should have waited for a few days and invited that party or group which was able to provide letters of support from the requisite number of MLAs.

Hegde described the performance of the NDA in the Bihar elections as a “big blow” to the alliance. “The entire alliance couldn’t even get a seat more than what Laloo secured single-handedly,” he said, adding that this would definitely have repercussions for the NDA government at the Centre.

He also joined other BJP allies in demanding that the government restore food subsidy and rollback the hike in fertiliser prices. “The hike wouldn’t have been necessary had the government cut down on expenditure. But nothing has been done in the Budget in this regard,” he said.

The JD (U) leader, who has been keeping a low profile after his party crashed to a defeat in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Karnataka is also sore with the Vajpayee government for not providing any logistic support for the Indo-French Forum that he heads as Cabinet Minister.

“There is no office, no secretariat and not even stationery,” Hegde said.

Whenever the forum met, a joint secretary from the Ministry of External Affairs assisted it in the preparation of the agenda. “In fact I had to entertain guests who had come for one of the meetings at my residence,” he remarked.