‘Doors are…for Nitish Kumar': Sushil Modi reacts to Bihar CM's NDA return rumours

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Friday said doors are never permanently closed to anyone in politics amid indications that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar may revive ties with the NDA, his former ally, as his equations with INDIA bloc partners reportedly turned sour.

If reports are to be believed, it remained unclear if Nitish Kumar, the unquestioned leader of the Janata Dal (United), has finalised a deal with the BJP brass.

"As far as Kumar or the JD(U) are concerned, doors are never permanently closed in politics. Closed doors open when the time comes but whether they will open or not is for our central leadership to decide," news agency PTI quoted Sushil Modi as saying.

Sushil Modi was deputy CM for a long time in governments headed by Nitish Kumar but was not repeated when the BJP-JD(U) alliance came to power after the 2020 assembly election.

After Nitish Kumar broke away from the NDA in 2022, the BJP maintained that its doors were permanently closed to Bihar's longest-serving chief minister but now, it seems that its leaders have turned more conciliatory of late as the INDIA bloc faces an internal crisis.

Also Read | Tejashwi Yadav skips governor event amid Nitish Kumar-BJP alliance hints: Top Updates

Sushil Modi, BJP's Rajya Sabha MP, has been part of the confabulations by the BJP brass this time, in an indication that the seasoned politician may be trusted with a key responsibility if the two parties join hands again.

Sushil Modi, who enjoyed warm relations with Nitish Kumar when they were together, turned a staunch critic after the JD(U) leader dumped the BJP for a second time in 2022.

Meanwhile, the BJP has been in touch with its Bihar allies, including Chirag Paswan and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, over the developments in the state but they have not been given a clear idea about the possibility of Nitish Kumar's return to their fold, PTI reported.

Chirag Paswan, former Lok Janshakti Party president, said he was “in constant touch with the top BJP leadership” but termed as “hypothetical” the question whether Nitish Kumar would be acceptable to him as a new NDA partner.

Paswan, who had come to the Bihar capital on Thursday evening, spoke to reporters at the airport, saying he has “cancelled” engagements in the state to hold deliberations over the “crucial next few days” in Delhi.

“I have been in constant touch with the top BJP leadership. I spoke to them before coming here last evening when I held a meeting of party workers. I am going back to Delhi. I have cancelled my trip to late Karpoori Thakur’s village in Samastipur and to Sitamarhi, which I had been wanting to visit after having paid obeisance at Ayodhya”, Paswan said.

Firmly with INDIA bloc: JD(U)

Amid the speculation, the JD(U) on Friday asserted that the party was "firmly with INDIA coalition" but wanted the Congress to do "introspection" with regard to alliance partners and sharing of seats.

State JD(U) president Umesh Singh Kushwaha made the statement, refuting rumours that his party, headed by Nitish Kumar, was thinking of a return to the BJP-led NDA.

"All is well in Bihar's ruling Mahagathbandhan and the media speculations are driven by some agenda," Kushwaha told the media.