Shah, Nitish meet amidst row over CM face
New Delhi:Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday met JD(U) leader and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in Patna. The meeting came at a time when there is a growing demand from within the JD(U) to declare Kumar as the NDA’s chief ministerial candidate.
Shah’s recent statements during a TV interview on the Bihar CM issue have fuelled speculations in the poll-bound state and left the JD(U) cadre disappointed. There were also reports that Kumar was unhappy over the seat-sharing deal in the NDA, though the issue was finally resolved after the BJP top brass intervened.
After Shah’s statement on the CM issue ended up creating a controversy, JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha uploaded on his social media a video clip of Shah’s interview where he is saying that the NDA is contesting the elections under the leadership of Kumar and describes him as a “prominent leader in Indian politics” and a “true socialist leader”.
Shah, who had arrived in Patna on Thursday evening on a three-day visit, drove down to 1, Anney Marg, the official residence of the CM, before devoting himself to the day's engagements, including a rally in Saran district and an interaction with intellectuals in the state capital. The former BJP president was accompanied by party colleagues, including Union minister and election-in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan and deputy CM Samrat Choudhary. They were accorded a warm welcome by Kumar, 75, who had JD(U) Jha by his side.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Jha said, “Both leaders met today and the campaign strategy for the JD(U) in the coming days was discussed at length.” He also asserted that “there were no differences among the NDA constituents over seat-sharing arrangements. Everything is fine in the NDA.”
Shah's remarks on the Bihar chief minister issue in an interview with a news channel on Thursday evening evoked diametrically opposite interpretations from the JD(U) and the RJD, the main Opposition party.
In response to a query on whether he would "make" Kumar the CM again, Shah had said, "Who am I to do so? There is a procedure. The members of the legislature take the decision. Of course, we have said that the NDA is contesting the elections under the leadership of Kumar and there is no shred of doubt over that."
To a pointed query as to whether the stand will be the same if the BJP outperforms the JD(U), Shah shot back, "We already have greater numbers, but still Mr Kumar is the CM."
The Union home minister bristled when he was asked whether the BJP could do in Bihar what it did in Maharashtra, where Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde was denied another term as chief minister after the saffron party won a larger number of seats in the Assembly polls.
"Politics cannot be done in a manner that ensures good TRP for news channels," Shah quipped.
Referring to the Union home minister, RJD spokesman Chittaranjan Gagan said in a statement, " Shah has been equivocal on another term for Kumar. Clearly, the BJP is planning to elbow him out."
However, JD(U) MLC and spokesman Neeraj Kumar was of the view that "Shah has made it clear that he wants Mr Kumar as the chief minister of an NDA government till 2030. The RJD should worry about itself. The family of its founding president Lalu Prasad Yadav is plagued by a fierce rivalry among siblings."
Interestingly, NDA constituent HAM’s Jitan Ram Manjhi said that he “personally believes that before the election, it should be made clear to the public who the CM will be.”
