Nitish Kumar was, is, and will be Bihar's CM: BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad
PATNA: Former union minister and BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday contended that Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar would continue to hold the post of chief minister if the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) returned to power after the Bihar assembly elections.
Responding to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s “no CM face” jibe at the ruling NDA at a press conference held in Patna to release the INDIA bloc’s manifesto for Bihar polls, Prasad said, “Nitish Kumar was, is, and will remain the chief minister. Tejashwi should first take care of his own house."
Tejashwi has claimed that the BJP will not make Nitish Kumar the chief minister if the NDA returns to power after the assembly elections scheduled for November 6 and 11. He also expressed his sympathy for Nitish for his poor health condition and alleged that he had been ‘hijacked’ by the BJP and some ‘tainted’ officials.
Patna Sahib MP Prasad said he listened to the RJD leader’s manifesto and wondered if it belonged to the INDIA bloc or if it was the leader's personal document.
He also asked why the picture of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was missing from the resolution.
“This is a bundle of hollow promises, and even those who drafted it know they won’t form the government, so what’s the harm in making big claims? The RJD is a school of corruption, that’s their past, present, and future," he told the media.
In response to a query, the BJP leader said that Nitish Kumar has been leader of NDA for the last 20 years. “There is no vacancy for CM’s post in Bihar,” he said, adding that NDA’s allies have repeatedly said that Nitish is NDA’s CM face.
Earlier, Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan endorsed Nitish as NDA’s CM face and offered clarification on Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent ‘MLAs will decide CM after the elections’ remark.
“How many times does it need to be said that chief minister Nitish Kumar is NDA’s CM face,” Chirag said, adding that the coalition is contesting the Bihar elections under Nitish’s leadership.
“CM Nitish Kumar is leading the election preparation. Just like the Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already said, MLAs will come and MLAs will elect," he noted.
