Nitish Kumar speaks out for first time since INDIA bloc’s meet in Delhi

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday rubbished speculations that he felt having been passed over at INDIA bloc’s meeting in Delhi last week when it was suggested that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge be made the prime ministerial face.

The JD(U) leader maintained that having taken the initiative to bring parties opposed to the BJP, he desired nothing for himself but admitted having stressed at the meeting the need to expedite seat-sharing arrangements.

‘I felt no disappointment (maayusi)....no resentment (naaraazgi)’, asserted Kumar when journalists approached him with queries here at a memorial of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee where he had turned up to pay tributes on the former prime minister’s birth anniversary.

‘At the meeting the issue (of naming a leader came up). I made it clear at the outset that I was not interested. Then another name was proposed, I said it was okay with me,’ said the Bihar CM alluding to the proposal by his Delhi and West Bengal counterparts, Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee respectively.

The JD(U) leader’s detractors in the BJP-led NDA have latched on to the development and claimed that Kejriwal, who heads the Aam Aadmi Party and Banerjee, who is Trinamool Congress supremo, had in effect snubbed Kumar’s alleged prime ministerial ambitions. Meanwhile, dismissing rumours of turmoil in the JD (U), Bihar Chief Minister asserted that all was well in his party and the rank and file were working together to fulfil promises made to the people of the state.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function organised to pay tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 99th birth anniversary, Kumar denied that he was unhappy with the outcome of the opposition INDIA bloc meeting held in Delhi last week and expressed confidence that seat sharing arrangements will be completed soon.

Asked about rumours of turmoil in the JD (U) as recently reported in a section of media quoting BJP leaders, Kumar said, ‘All are united in our party all is well I don’t really pay attention to what they (BJP leaders) say about us. Let them say whatever they want... it does not have any value. We are only concerned about the overall development of the state. We have undertaken many development works for the overall growth of Bihar.’