Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said that he is not hungry for CM post and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is free to choose any other leader for the position.
Addressing JD(U)'s national executive meeting, Nitish Kumar said, "I have no desire for CM post. NDA can choose its own candidate for the post of CM. I am not attached to the position."
The statement by the JD(U) supremo has raised eyebrows in the political circles and it comes amid unease in the NDA camp when six JD(U) Arunachal Pradesh MLAs have defected the party and joined BJP. After the departure of six MLAs, the JD(U) is now left with one legislator in the northeastern state.
Kumar is heading NDA government in Bihar having JD(U), BJP, Hindustani Awam Morcha and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) as its constituents.
JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi said, "The party has expressed its deep anguish, displeasure, protest on Arunachal Pradesh development. It is not a good sign for alliance politics. The partners should follow the ''alliance politics'' as was practiced during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure or being followed in Bihar for the past 15 years. "The coalition partners should follow ''Atal Dharma'."
The JDU held its national executive meeting to deliberate on issues related to the country's political situation.
Stating that party leader had told home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda that they would not find an opponent who could create any sort of trouble for the government and hence they may be included in the Arunachal cabinet, Tyagi said that "instead of accommodating them (JDU MLAs) into the cabinet, they (BJP) included them in their party".
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"This is against the basic spirit of alliance government", he said while suggesting that "love and brotherhood should be the base of alliance. Asked whether the party would apprise the BJP leadership of its displeasure, he said the displeasure will be communicated through media to them.
Referring to Nitish Kumar's speech delivered at the party's meeting, Tyagi said that Kumar did not want to become the CM after the assembly results were declared, the decision which he (Kumar) had conveyed to both his party and ally BJP. Stating that those who raise the issue of strength of numbers, the JD(U) leader asserted that Nitish Kumar is man known for his "credibility" and not for "numbers".
"Neither his credibility is affected at all nor party's vote share has gone down in the recently concluded Bihar polls", Tyagi said while adding that Nitish Kumar would give more time to other states. In reply to a query, Tyagi said that party would contest West Bengal assembly polls.
When pressed further about the number of seats that the party will be contesting, he said that decision will be taken in a day or two in consultation with party state in-charge and state president.
The party has also asked all its district president and candidates who fought Bihar assembly polls to find out the reasons, persons and groups responsible for the defeat of the nominees, Tyagi said. In reply to a query, JD(U) leader said that Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) was neither the part of NDA in Bihar nor at the Centre.
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LJP had worked against the JD(U) in Bihar elections despite being an alliance partner of the NDA at the centre. Whether the party would join union cabinet, Tyagi said that the party would consider joining the cabinet if it gets a "proportionate representation", the issue which the party has already made it clear in the past
Meanwhile, in another significant development, bureaucrat-turned politician Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, better known by his initials RCP, owes his rise to become the president of the Janata Dal (United) to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Singh, a close confidant of Kumar, was on Sunday chosen as the new president of the JD(U).
At the party's national executive meeting, Kumar proposed the name of Singh for the top post and it was then approved by other members.
The chief minister, who was re-elected as the JD(U) president in 2019 for three years, gave up the post in favour of Singh, its leader in the Rajya Sabha. The man who prefers to keep a low profile was so far the general secretary (organisation) of the regional party. The 1984 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre has been with Kumar since his stint as the Railway minister in the government led by late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
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When Kumar returned to the Bihar politics becoming chief minister in November 2005, Singh too came to his native state and became Principal Secretary to the CM. Months before retirement from service, he quit the job and joined politics in 2010. Kumar soon made him a member of the Rajya Sabha and he continues to be part of the Upper House of Parliament.
With the JD(U) passing through hard times losing its "elder brother" status to the BJP in the NDA in Bihar after not faring well in the recently concluded assembly election, the task is cut out for the 62-year-old Singh to strengthen the organisation as well as deal astutely with the saffron party.
''Nitish Kumar ji decided to relinquish the post of party president and proposed the name of RCP Singh for the same, following which RCP Singh has been elected as new party chief for next three years," said KC Tyagi.
With PTI inputs
