Patna, Oct 25 (IANS) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani Monday said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will emerge victorious in the ongoing assembly elections in the state.

“Nitish Kumar will return to power in Bihar after the state assembly polls,” Advani said in his public rally in Bettiah district, which goes to polls Oct 28, the third round of the six-phase elections.

Advani claimed that Nitish Kumar had changed the face of Bihar, and will be given another term on the basis of good-governance and development.

“People of Bihar are with Nitish Kumar as he has worked hard for the development of the state,” Advani said.

He said that Bihar was lagging behind during the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) 15-year rule from 1990 to 2005.

“RJD chief Lalu Prasad has only destroyed Bihar,” Advani said.

Advani is scheduled to address another public meeting in Hajipur Monday.

It was Advani’s second rally in the ongoing elections, the first being at Motihari in East Champaran district Oct 19.

Results of the 243-seat state assembly elections will be declared Nov 24.

New Delhi, Oct 25 (IANS) A day after the second phase of Bihar assembly polls, Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Nitish Kumar Monday said that his party has nothing in common with alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

'We have a totally different ideology from the BJP,' Nitish Kumar said in an interview to CNN-IBN.

'The question of having a similar school of thought need not arise, if in an alliance there is a common programme. That very programme contains minority welfare also and we implement that,' he said.

'The fact is that ideologies are different, there is no similarity on many issues, and there cannot be also. In an alliance, the government is made together, elections are fought together, there is a common programme,' Nitish Kumar said.

He added that not letting Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi campaign in Bihar was a decision of the alliance partner.

'This (Narendra Modi's campaign) is not our matter, it's the BJP's. They have to decide, we are nowhere interfering in their decision on who has to be called and who doesn't,' he said.

The JD-U leader rejected any possibility of having an alliance with the Congress.

'I am a product of the JP (Jayaprakash Narayan) movement and that doesn't even come in my line of thinking. I have good relations with the BJP and have had a good experience working with them. That's why I am still working with them and will continue to do so,' he said.

Asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's icon status, Nitish Kumar avoided a direct comment and said any boy born in a normal family is an icon.

'I am talking about the new generation and not about a youth icon. For me, any boy born in a normal family is an icon and I think that the new generation is smart and will move ahead. I do not want to talk about an individual,' he said.

Nitish Kumar added that development was an important issue in Bihar polls.

'The victory of development in these elections will be a victory for Bihar. People should take inspiration from the past and break through the caste divide. This will lead to the development of Bihar. I am happy about the fact that the new generation has realised this,' he said.

'Though many people will try and create a caste divide, it will not work. Everyone is working towards development. If Bihar is strong, the country will be strong and it is our duty to contribute to national growth,' the JD-U leader said.

Patna: Terming Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's claims of development a 'false propaganda', Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Monday said Bihar was 'not shining'.

'Bihar is not shining, it is a slogan like the 'India shining' of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) in 2004. People of India already rejected that slogan and now it will be rejected in Bihar too,' Rahul said, addressing an election rally at Ramnagar in Bagaha district.

'Bihar is shining for others, including people outside Bihar and outside India but not for millions of people living in the state. Bihar is shining for rest of the world but not for its own people. It is a false propaganda of Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar because people are asking and questioning his claims of shining Bihar,' he said.

People of Bihar are still living without facilities like electricity, drinking water, health and good education, he said.

'People from Bihar are running the entire country, be it in New Delhi, Punjab or Maharashtra. But they were let down by the government in their own home state,' he said.

Addressing another election rally in Saran district, Gandhi charged Nitish Kumar with betraying people of Bihar by propagating about development and progress, which is 'far from the truth'.

Patna: Ram Nath Thakur, a minister in the Nitish cabinet, suffered a heart attack in his home town of Samastipur late on Monday night. He was rushed to a private nursing home and his condition is said to be critical. At present he is in intensive care unit of the nursing home.

Doctors said that his blood pressure is fluctuating. Ram Nath, son of former chief minister, Karpoori Thakur, was the Janata Dal (United) candidate from Samastipur.

Doctors said that since he is a heart patient harassment and tension due to election campaign might have caused this problem. However, they hoped that his condition may improve by evening.