Free to go, Nitish reacts to Pavan Varma's charges

New Delhi/Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday took umbrage at his senior party leader Pavan Varma for going public with reservations about the JD(U)'s support to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and tie-up with BJP for Delhi Assembly polls, and made it clear that the "scholarly" diplomat-turned-politician was "free to go wherever he likes".

Kumar's blunt remarks came two days after Varma, a former Rajya Sabha member, sent him a two-page letter on the issue and shared screenshots of the same on his official Twitter handle and Facebook profile despite it containing details of conversations the two were claimed to have had "in private".

Varma, who had sought "ideological clarity" from Kumar the JD(U)s national president had arrived in Patna later in the day on a private visit during which he could not meet the Chief Minister but demanded from him "a full statement" on CAA-NPR-NRC in view of the country-wide movement against the same.

Kumar made the comment when mediapersons approached him at the historic Gandhi Maidan here, where he had come to attend a function organised on the occasion of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary.

"He (Varma) is a scholarly person for whom I have enormous, personal respect. But the types of statements he has been giving... it has left me flabbergasted," he said.

"There should be no confusion on the stand taken by the Janata Dal (United) on issues. Our stand is always very clear.

"But if he had any reservations, he could have expressed the same in a party forum. And the reference to conversations made in private! Would I ever go public with what he has said to me in private", Kumar said with obvious displeasure.

"Nonetheless, I have a lot of respect for him. He can go wherever he likes", Kumar said.