PATNA: Amid speculation over Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar joining politics, a group of Janata Dal (United) workers on Sunday thanked him for paying heed to their demand.
“We thank you for conceding demand of (people) of Bihar,” said posters erected outside the JD(U) office on the Beer Chand Patel Path in the state capital on Sunday.
The development comes a day after former minister and senior JD(U) leader Jai Kumar Singh claimed that Nishant Kumar has become active in politics and is also taking keen interest in it. He said a formal announcement about his joining the party will be made at an opportune time.
Talking to media persons after greeting Nitish Kumar and his son Nishant at the chief minister’s official residence on the occasion of Holi, Singh said that Nishant touched his feet and facilitated his meeting with Nitish.
“I congratulated him for becoming active in politics,” he revealed. He, however, hastened to add that Nishant would formally join JD(U) later. Responding to a media query, the former minister said that he wanted Nishant to contest the assembly election due in October-November this year. “It is up to Nitish Ji and his son to decide in this regard,” he added.
According to rumours, Nishant may contest the upcoming assembly election from Harnaut in Nalanda district. However, neither Nitish nor Nishant have issued any formal statement on the issue. Leaders from across party lines have welcomed Nishant’s willingness to join politics. Nishant was seen greeting senior JD(U) leaders and ministers at CM residence on Saturday.
Holi has been celebrated at CM’s residence after a gap of seven years, sources in JD(U) said. JD(U) leader Jai Kumar Singh also described Nishant as CM material. Sources said that Nishant was likely to join the party after Holi. The former industries minister Jai Kumar Singh’s statement came amid posters erected outside JD(U) office, urging Nishant to join the party. Singh also described Nishant as a CM material as he was well-educated and also a keen observer of political developments taking place in Bihar.
Earlier, Nishant had parried question on joining politics. He had, however, appealed to people to vote for his father Nitish Kumar for development works undertaken during his tenure as chief minister since 2005. He hoped that his father would continue to work for the betterment of the state if elected again after the assembly polls. He had also appealed to BJP leadership to declare his father as the chief ministerial candidate of NDA in the assembly polls.
BJP leaders, in turn, said that Nitish will remain as CM even after the assembly polls. The also declared that the assembly election will be contested under Nitish’s leadership. Deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary and state BJP president Dilip Kumar Jaiswal said that there was no confusion about Nitish’s becoming the chief minister after assembly election. “He (Nitish) is a respectable leader of NDA,” the BJP leaders asserted.
Former union minister and senior BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey also said that Nishant possessed all qualities of becoming the chief minister. “We will welcome him if he decided to join politics,” he told the media recently.