Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushil Kumar Modi has rubbished rumours that the saffron party wants to 'replace' Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Modi, who had served as the Deputy CM for more than a decade and is still seen as the man most trusted in the BJP by Nitish Kumar, expressed dismay over rumours and said that this might have contributed to the debacle in a recent by-poll.
He said that Nitish Kumar has the mandate till 2025 and there are 'no ifs and buts'. He also blamed the opposition for the 'baseless speculations' aimed at creating political instability in the state.
“The NDA had fought the 2020 assembly polls under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and won the people’s mandate,” he said.
On the recent by-poll debacle in Bochahan, he said that speculations about the possibility of BJP going for 'its own CM' might have sent a wrong signal among voters. where the party was defeated by the RJD by a huge margin. The Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) had won the seat in the Assembly polls held in 2020. Bypoll here was held in 2022 after the demise of the sitting MLA. The RJD won the seat in the bypoll.
In the assembly elections of 2020, the BJP had for the first time outperformed Kumar’s JD(U) and though he was backed for yet another term in office, in keeping with the assertions of the PM and Shah beforehand, speculations have been rife that the saffron party might want to have its own man as CM in the state where it has had none so far.
Last week, Nitish Kumar had attending an Iftar party hosted at the residence of former Bihar CM Rabri Devi. The event turned out to be an occasion for huge political optics. Speaking on Nitish's visit to the Iftar party, Lalu's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav claimed that he held secret talks with Bihar CM and even went ahead to say that they will form government in the state.
"Earlier I had put up 'No Entry' board (for Bihar CM Nitish Kumar), & now I have put up Entry 'Nitish Chacha Ji' board, so he came... Since he came, govt will be formed...will form govt, it's a secret. I had a word with Nitish Ji secretly." "We had organized an Iftar party where not just Nitish Ji, but BJP's Shahnawaz Hussain, LJP's Chirag Paswan and other leaders had also come," Tej Pratap Yadav added.
READ MORE: After Nitish Kumar attends RJD's Iftar party, Tej Pratap claims 'secret talks' with Bihar CM to form govt
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