Janata Dal-United says Bihar has been insulted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's DNA jibe while confirming that the first batch of DNA samples in the form of hair and nails have been sent to the prime minister's office. M I Khan reports from Patna for Rediff.com
It’s official! Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United has sent 1 lakh hair and nail samples of its party leaders, workers and supporters on Friday to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office for a DNA test to protest against his comment questioning Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's DNA at a public rally.
JD-U state president Vashshist Narain Singh told Rediff.com that the first batch of samples have been sent to Modi's office for a DNA test.
"We had despatched 1 lakh samples for DNA test to PM Modi's office on Thursday," he said.
Senior JD-U leader Satish Kumar said party will send 1 lakh samples to the PMO at 7 Race Course.
He said that the party would send 50 lakh samples to Modi's office via Patna post office from September 4 to October 15.
“The party has already collected more than 2 lakh hair and nail samples of people across the state and kept it at 7 Strand Road in Patna before it would be sent to the PMO for a DNA test,” Kumar added.
Nitish Kumar during his address at swabhimaan rally of the JD-U, along with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress party, on August 30 in Patna said that samples would be send to the PMO for DNA test from September 1.
JD-U spokesperson Ajay Alok said that the party is confident it would collect samples to send to Modi. "We have given a target to party leaders including legislators, MPs and others to collect samples for DNA test from their respective constituencies across the state," he added.
Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad have been trying hard to link DNA issue with the self respect of Bihar. Their swabhimaan rally was first big show of unity, a year after the two leaders joined hands in a bid to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance NDA in the state.
Earlier, the JD-U launched a shabdwapsi campaign to put pressure on Prime Minister Modi to take back his remark and began a drive to collect signatures.
The DNA controversy saw its inception at a public meeting in Muzaffarpur on July 25, when Modi had said, “There seems to be some problem in his (Nitish Kumar) DNA because the DNA of democracy is not like that. In democracy, you give respect even to your political rivals.”
