Nitish meets Modi, Shah, says now in NDA forever

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official residence in New Delhi in what was their first meeting since the JD(U) supremo realigned with the BJP to form a new NDA government in Bihar on January 28 and later vowed not to leave the alliance again.

The meeting comes days ahead of the trust vote that the new government in Bihar faces in the state assembly on February 12. The NDA enjoys majority by a slender margin in the 243-member House.

Six Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar will also go to vote on February 27.

After his meeting with the Prime Minister, which lasted around 30 minutes, Kumar also called on union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda.

He is also likely to meet senior BJP leader LK Advani, who was conferred India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, earlier this month.

JD(U) general secretary Sanjay Jha, who is accompanying Kumar, said the CM would return to Patna Thursday evening.

“I met the PM, HM and BJP president and we had good talk. We have been together since 1995 when late Atal Bihari Vajpayee was there. Twice I moved out, but now I am here forever. I will not go anywhere,” he told media persons in New Delhi.

On the seat sharing in the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) for the upcoming parliamentary polls, Kumar said it was not the time to discuss that. “They all know everything and that will be amicably decided,” he said.

The seat sharing exercise among the NDA constituents in Bihar has only got trickier after JD(U)’s re-entry into the alliance, especially in view of tough posturing by Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) chief Chirag Paswan, whose antipathy towards Nitish Kumar is well known.

Besides, the cabinet expansion is also yet to take place in Bihar. Against the sanctioned strength of 37, the Nitish Kumar cabinet currently has just nine members, including the CM.

JD(U) general secretary KC Tyagi, meanwhile, termed the CM’s visit as a courtesy call.

Former JD(U) president and MP Rajiv Ranjan alias Lallan Singh, who had met the PM earlier, also called on CM Kumar.

PM Modi’s visit to Bettiah in western Bihar has been postponed thrice. It was rescheduled for February 4, but a BJP leader said it could happen later this month or early March. Earlier, PM’s visit to Bettiah was scheduled for January 13 and again on January 27, but could not materialise.

Earlier, CM Kumar’s two deputies, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, both from BJP, had earlier called on the PM, HM on the BJP president.

It was Kumar who had initiated the pan-India drive to unite the Opposition against the BJP last year.