Farmers Movement Archive

Nitish became Bihar CM on NDA’s request: Sushil Modi

PATNA A day after Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said he had expressed no desire to become the chief minister and that his Janata Dal (United) party’s ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party could have picked its own CM, former deputy CM of the state, Sushil Kumar Modi, of the BJP, struck a conciliatory note and said Kumar had been reluctant to accept the state’s top post after the recent assembly elections and relented only after all National Democratic Alliance constituents in the state requested him to do so.“It is true that Nitish Kumar showed reluctance to continue as chief minister after the assembly polls and said the BJP should stake claim for the top post,” Modi, now a Rajya Sabha member, said on Monday.Modi, who is known to have an excellent equation with Nitish Kumar, was responding to queries on the sidelines of a function organised here on the birth anniversary of former Union minister Arun Jaitley.Kumar, who was chosen as CM despite his party winning just 43 seats (the BJP won 74 in the 243-member assembly), said at the JD (U) national executive meeting on Sunday that he was pressured to become the chief minister. “I didn’t have any intention to become the CM, but was pressured into accepting the post,” he had said.“Whoever becomes the CM, it hardly affects me. I don’t have any urge to continue on this post. I wanted a BJP CM and am (still) ready to co-operate,” he said.Kumar’s statement, which came two days after six JD (U) MLAs defected to the ruling BJP in Arunachal Pradesh, points to a divide developing in the ruling alliance.JD (U)’s national principal general secretary K C Tyagi also expressed anguish over repeated references to Kumar being the CM despite his party’s diminished strength in the assembly. He underscored that Kumar had initially expressed the opinion that the BJP, on account of its superior numerical strength, should have its own chief minister.He also ruled out the possibility of deterioration in relations between the two parties following the en masse defection of JD(U) MLAs to the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh.Modi too expressed similar sentiments. “The JD(U) itself has said that events taking place in another state will not affect the party’s tie-up with BJP in Bihar. I am confident that the NDA will rule Bihar for another five years, with Nitish Kumar at the helm, without any problem,” he said. “There is excellent coordination between the two parties.”Remembering Jaitley, he said, “I am sure had he been around, he would have found a way out of the current deadlock around the farm bills.”BJP’s spokesperson Nikhil Anand said that Kumar has put Bihar on the path to development. “He was again elected leader by NDA legislators and we are sure that he will continue to take Bihar forward .”

Hindustan Times

28-12-2020

India