Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is in his fourth term, will end his five-year term and “going nowhere,” senior party leader Janata Dal (United) insisted on Friday.
A day after Rumor Mill had a field day to explain Kumar’s off-the-cuff remarks during an informal conversation with reporters, several top JD (U) leaders came out with explanations.
Speculation began that Kumar was the only house in the Rajya Sabha that he was not a member of.
The Chief Minister started as a MLA in the early 1980s, then was elected to the Lok Sabha for several terms during which time he also served as Union Minister for many years and has been an MLC since he became the Chief Minister in 2005.
It was meant to be the desire of the septuagenarian to give up his demanding job for a glamorous appointment like vice-president or president. Elections for the two top posts are expected to take place in a few months. Oh dear! Revered Nitish Kumar G has been mandated to serve the people of Bihar for five years. That means he’s not going anywhere. He will be the chief minister and in power, tweeted Upendra Kushwaha, head of the JD (U) parliamentary board.
Information and Public Relations Minister Sanjay Kumar Jha, who is also a national general secretary of the party, saw the rumors surrounding the chief minister as a propaganda that would bear little fruit. “I am interested in the rumor that Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar is thinking of going to Rajya Sabha! It’s naughty, and far from the truth. Mr. Kumar has a mandate from the people to serve Bihar and will continue to do so for the entire term as Chief Minister. He’s not going anywhere! “, Jha tweeted.
Shri Nitish Kumar was the face of NDA in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections and people voted for this alliance in power. His unwavering commitment to serve the people and his ability to transform #Bihar is sacred. In another tweet, he said, “I urge everyone to refrain from such propaganda, which will have very little effect.
Jha did not specifically blame anyone for the campaign, although the strong statement came a day after a section of the media claimed that Kumar was willing to step down and allow his ruling ally, the BJP, to have its own chief minister in Bihar.
A junior ally of the JD (U), the BJP won far more seats in the 2020 assembly elections than its predecessor, although Kumar returned to office for another term at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit. Shah has said that he will lead the NDA in the state irrespective of the election results. Some polls suggest that confusion over Kumar’s fate, which followed the Chirag Paswan-led LJP uprising, which many saw as a mild support for the BJP, hit the NDA in the early stages of the election.
The NDA was able to form, and eventually achieve a wafer-thin majority when Modi himself cleared the air after the rally. Nevertheless, BJP leaders in the state continue to express their personal views that Bihar also needs a Yogi model which Kumar could not provide due to fatigue and this was the time when the party had the largest number of MLAs for the first time. The state has occupied the driving seat.
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