What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
PATNA: A day after taking oath as Bihar’s Chief Minister for the eighth time, Nitish Kumar on Thursday said that he never desired to be the Vice President of India. He termed the comments as “bogus” and said, “it is a joke”.
Sushil Modi, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former deputy Chief Minister, claimed that the BJP and Janata Dal (United) split because Kumar was not appointed Vice President of India.
Speaking to the media on the Assembly premises on the occasion of Shahid Diwas, CM Kumar said, “It is bogus. Is it a joke? I have no such desire. Did they forget how much our party supported their President and Vice President candidate?”
“We were waiting for the election to be over and then convened our meeting,” the JD (U) leader said. “Let them talk because they want something. They talk about me so that they may get a position (in the party),” Kumar said, taking a potshot at his former deputy.
On Wednesday, Sushil Modi claimed many senior JD(U) leaders sent feelers on whether there was any possibility of making Nitish Kumar the Vice President.
“Some JD(U) people had come to say that you make Nitish Kumar Vice President and you rule the state,” Sushil Modi stated, while adding that the BJP never betrayed anyone.
Retorting to Sushil Modi’s comments, CM Kumar said, “I had said earlier that I didn’t want to be the Chief Minister. The way things were happening, and going on, it did not look good. We have now joined hands with the Opposition, and we will work harder now.”
The JD(U) leader also dismissed claims that the investigation into the Popular Front of India led to the end of the JD(U)-NDA alliance in Bihar. “We supported them to win while they were hurting our party,” Kumar said.
Kumar took the oath as Bihar CM for the eighth time on Wednesday. Tejashwi Yadav, former CM and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son, was sworn in as Kumar’s deputy.
When asked about the Cabinet expansion, he said, “We will soon have Cabinet expansion and the Mahagathbandhan will work strongly in the state.”
He also rubbished the charge of the BJP that the Mahagathbandhan will last only eight months. Tejashwi Yadav also said that the leader of Mahagathbandhan is Nitish Kumar and “we are strongly standing behind him”.
