The Opposition Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar Wednesday set a one-year deadline for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to prove that he can fare better than his predecessor Rabri Devi.
"It will not be fair to start commenting on Nitish Kumar's performance now. Let him have a year's time to show he can deliver better than the RJD. And if he doesn't, we, as an opposition party, will surely take on him," LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters on the margins of former Lok Sabha Speaker Ravi Rai's birthday celebrations in Patna.
Paswan, whose party has fallen far behind Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) in the Bihar elections, however, said he had successfuly met his objective of ensuring the rout of Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal.
"We achieved our goal to throw the RJD out of power in Bihar. Let's see how Nitish Kumar performs now," he remarked.
In his speech at Rai's birthday function, Paswan said he believed in accepting challenges.
"A ship standing along the coast fears nothing. But being at sea means coming face-to-face with challenges. And I am the one who believes in sailing against the wind," he said.
JD-U leader Sharad Yadav also spoke from the same platform as did Union Minister Shivraj Patil and the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader.
The three, however, restricted their speeches to recalling accomplishments of Rai, who turned 80, as a political and socialist leader.
In his address, the Dalai Lama thanked Indian leaders for their support to the Tibetan cause.