'Nitish Kumar not a PM candidate but he has all qualities needed to become one,' says JDU

After the political drama that recently unfolded in the state of Bihar, JDU National President Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh has stated that Nitish Kumar is not a contender for the Prime Minister's seat, however, he has all the qualities needed to become one.

While speaking to the media on Friday, August 12, the National President of the JD(U) said, "We've said Nitish Kumar is not a PM contender, but he has all qualities needed to become PM. Once new govt starts functioning, we'll go to Delhi & meet Opposition leaders to arrive at consensus to wage a fight against BJP across India."

JDU's Rajiv Singh also hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and stated that the latter was responsible for breaking the alliance between them. He said, "This National Democratic Alliance was born out of Atal-Advani Ji’s thoughts. When Atal ji was leading the BJP and when NDA was formed in 1996, we parted in 2013. There was never any difference in NDA even for 17 seconds in 17 years."

"Today, the people of the BJP, who are in power, they are not ready to give respect to allies. The BJP kept disrespecting the JDU time and again,” the JDU leader alleged.

While bashing the BJP's allegations that 'gundaraj' has returned in Bihar, Rajiv Singh added, "No Gundaraj has come back in Bihar, no village crime has increased. BJP kept on campaigning for all this. People of Bihar will show them in the 2024 elections whether crime and Goondaraj has increased or if cheaters like BJP will be sent off."

BJP MLA Tarkishore Prasad slams Nitish for 'dreaming of becoming PM'

Rajiv Singh's statement comes after former Bihar deputy CM and BJP MLA Tarkishore Prasad slammed the Bihar CM for "dreaming of becoming Prime Minister". Tarkishore Prasad said, "Day before yesterday, he (Nitish Kumar) accused BJP of attempting to break the JD(U) and he went quiet on the matter of corruption as if Lalu Prasad Yadav's family's corruption cases are now closed and they have become 'clean'. People know that investigation is still on."

"Whenever he dreams of becoming the Prime Minister, he says things like this because his furious desire inspires him to betray the mandate of the people," the BJP leader added.

Change of guard in Bihar

Five years after returning to the NDA fold, Nitish Kumar took another U-turn on Tuesday and joined hands with RJD, Congress, and the Left once again. He submitted his resignation to Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan and staked claim to form the Mahagatbandhan government. Thus, only BJP and the lone AIMIM MLA constitute the opposition space in Bihar now.

On August 10, Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav were sworn in as the CM and Deputy CM respectively at the Raj Bhawan. This is Nitish Kumar's 8th term as the Chief Minister. 

(With inputs from ANI)

Image: PTI, ANI