'You're union minister': Why fight Bihar polls, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar 'asked' Chirag Paswan
PATNA: Bihar CM
Nitish Kumar
can't see why Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief and NDA ally Chirag Paswan should aspire to contest assembly elections after being rewarded with a berth in the Union cabinet, the latter's brother-in-law and Jamui MP Arun Bharti said on Sunday.
"You are a union minister, a young politician with a bright and long political career ahead. So, why contest assembly elections now?" Bharti quoted the CM as saying during a meeting with Chirag in Siwan ahead of PM Narendra Modi's June 20 rally there.
Nitish, whose JDU could be wary of Chirag's party complicating NDA's seat-sharing arrangement for elections to the 243-strong assembly, also enquired about the constituency Chirag was interested in, Bharti said.
The Union minister for food processing industries has announced his party is preparing to contest all seats in Bihar, fuelling speculation about his chief ministerial ambitions.
Bharti said Chirag told CM Nitish that he would "go by my party's decision in this regard and come to seek your blessings before contesting the polls".
The MP said Chirag iterated his oft-quoted phrase, "Bihar is calling", while explaining his vision for the state.
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"He told the CM that like him, he too wants to be directly involved in state politics to take Bihar out of the RJD's 'jungle raj'."
RJD's Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said Chirag "should speak openly that he wants to become CM instead of doing the 'Bihar is calling' drama". Bharti accused RJD of attempting to spread rumours of a rift in NDA as it fears the governing alliance could reduce the opposition to fewer seats than it got in the 2020 assembly polls. "LJP (RV) is set to host around two lakh people at Rajgir in CM Nitish's home district of Nalanda, with his blessings, at the 'Bahujan Bhim Sankalp Samagam' on June 29," he said.
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