Highlights:
- On Sunday, Nitish Kumar said that after the Bihar assembly election, he had no intention of becoming the CM, but was coerced into accepting the post
- Sushil Modi explains that only after being reminded that the NDA had sought votes in his name had Nitish Kumar agreed to be Bihar’s CM
- The former Bihar Deputy CM also assured that the NDA alliance is strong and the equation among Bihar leaders would not be affected by developments in Arunachal
On Monday, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said Nitish Kumar was “reluctant” after the recent assembly polls to continue as chief minister, and decided to do so only after being reminded that the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) had sought votes in his name.
In response to questions Sushil Modi, made the remark about the JD(U)’s statement to the effect on the previous day, who had served as Kumar’s deputy for more than a decade and is considered to have an excellent equation with his former boss.
At a press conference following Sunday’s JD(U) national executive meeting, where Nitish Kumar, CM of Bihar, abdicate his president’s post, Party National Secretary General and spokesperson K C Tyagi expressed anguish at repeated references to the Chief Minister remaining in his chair despite the fact that his party now has far less MLAs than the BJP.
He stressed that Kumar had initially expressed the view that the BJP should have its own chief minister on account of its superior numerical strength.
In the state assembly polls, the BJP returned with a tally of 74, while the JD(U), which contested a few more seats than the saffron party, managed to win only 43, as it bore the brunt of the brinkmanship strategy of Chirag Paswan, who pulled out of the NDA vowing to dislodge Nitish Kumar from power and fielded as LJP candidates many BJP rebels.
It is true that after the assembly polls, Nitish Kumar had shown reluctance to continue as chief minister and said that the BJP should claim the top spot.
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Sushil Modi while talking to a reporter said, “He agreed to continue only after he was asked to do so by all NDA partners in the state, BJP, HAM and VIP, and reminded him that votes had been sought in his name.”
He also ruled out that relations between the two parties could deteriorate following the en masse defection of the JD(U) MLAs to the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh.
Sushil Modi, Rajya Sabha MP, said, “The JD(U) itself has said that events taking place in another state will not disturb the party’s tie-up with the BJP in Bihar. He further assured by adding, “I am confident that the NDA will rule Bihar for another five years, with Nitish Kumar at the helm, without any problem.”
The former deputy CM, who played the role of a trouble-shooter during his tenure, rejected suggestions that ties between the BJP and the JD(U) could hit rough weather due to his shifting attention to national politics.
Sushil Modi while talking to the reporter said, “There is excellent coordination between the two parties.”
The current Rajya Sabha MP and former Deputy CM of Bihar and close aide to CM of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, who was talking to journalists on the side-lines of an event organised on the birth anniversary of former Union minister Arun Jaitley, recalled the late leader’s role in cementing the JD(U)-BJP relations in Bihar, and bringing back Nitish Kumar to the NDA, a few years after he had left the coalition all of a sudden.
While paying tributes to his late BJP leader Arun Jaitley on his birth anniversary at an event, Sushil Modi said, “I am sure had he been around, he would have found a way out of the current situation regarding the farm law bills.”