Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said that he was not in favour of naming the Opposition's alliance as I.N.D.I.A and had something else in his mind.
Amid reports that National Conference Chief Farooq Abdullah and RLD Chief Jayant Singh are drifting away from the I.N.D.I.A alliance, Nitish Kumar said, "I tried my best. I was not even in favour of this name for the alliance as I had something else in mind... The alliance was long over... Now I am working for the people of Bihar and will continue doing it..."
On Lalu Yadav's 'doors open' remark, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said, "Don't think of who says what... Things were not going well, so I left them (RJD)..."
Initially, Nitish Kumar was one of the top leaders who took charge to bring all opposition parties on board to challenge BJP-led NDA in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
However, in a major turn of events, Nitish Kumar ditched the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance comprising of JD(U), RJD and Congress) in Bihar and once again joined hands with the BJP.
Nitish Kumar, who met PM Modi last week first time after dumping the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc reiterated that he will not leave (NDA) again.
Following his meeting with Modi, Kumar met Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda and is believed to have discussed a host of governance and political issues related to Bihar.
In brief remarks to reporters, the JD(U) chief recalled his association with the BJP since 1995, before he broke the ties in 2013, and said he might have left it twice but will never do it now.
"Never now. We will remain here (in the NDA)," he said.
Kumar had taken the oath along with eight ministers, including three each from the BJP and the JD(U), and an expansion of the council of ministers is on the cards.
Both parties have to deal with a number of tricky political issues ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, including the distribution of parliamentary seats for contesting the election among them and their smaller allies.
With inputs from PTI
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