New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday ruled out the possibility of returning to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Speaking at a media event, Kumar stressed that his support for the Centre’s demonetisation exercise did not have any political implication.
The JD(U) leader also denied having any meeting with BJP chief Amit Shah after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s shock announcement to scrap high-value banknotes.
Kumar was non-committal about the possibility of a grand alliance in 2019 for the Lok Sabha elections. He said there had been ‘no serious discussions’ on the issue.
“My ambition is to resurrect JD(U), my party, as a national party. It is the flag-bearer of the Janata Dal legacy,” the 65-year-old said.
He added that the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ experiment does not have any relevance outside of Bihar, unless the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) come together in Uttar Pradesh.
However, Kumar said he will push to form a coalition at the national level for the 2019 polls because ‘it will win’.
The Bihar CM also played down reports of differences between him and ally Lalu Prasad Yadav over issues such as the demonetisation exercise.
Kumar had come out firmly in support of demonetisation, a move that was opposed even by his own party president Sharad Yadav. The CM stated that he supported the move only because it was good for the country.
