Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. (File photo | PTI)
PATNA: Breaking his silence over the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by a Surat court in the Modi surname case six days ago, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday sought to distance himself from the issue by asserting that he did not speak on court matters.
Nitish told the media, “Listen to one thing, you all know that I do not speak anything in a court matter of any person. Even when a case is filed, I do not speak anything and do not make any comments. All people express their views. Even my colleagues speak on it but I do not speak. I do not comment on a court’s
decisions," he remarked.
Nitish had formed the grand alliance government, of which Congress is an ally, for another time last August.
On the Opposition unity, Nitish said that he was waiting for a response from Congress in this regard. He said that he had also already held discussions with the opposition parties in two rounds as several of the regional parties were also in favour of the united Opposition challenging BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha
election.
“We are waiting. If Congress also agrees, more parties will be joining the opposition bandwagon,” he remarked. Earlier too, Nitish has appealed to senior Congress leaders including Salman Khurshid during his visit to the state capital to persuade their party’s top leadership to take initiative in this regard.
“I want as many Opposition parties as possible coming on a single platform so that we can contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election more strongly. We are sitting quietly with this wish only,” he added.
Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comment that all corrupt people were coming on the same platform, Nitish said that it was his habit to speak in such a manner. He said that he had nothing to do with it. Since he (Modi) has controlled the media, he is getting applause from it, CM added.
Sharpening his attack on Modi, Nitish said that everybody was aware of what was happening now. He said that he always praised former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee`s tenure as he had worked in the interest of both Hindus and Muslims. “All people in BJP are busy only in praising themselves,” he remarked.
