We’ll not join the government; all well with BJP: JD(U)

India

oi-PTI

New
Delhi,
Aug
07:
Bihar
Chief
Minister
Nitish
Kumar’s
Janata
Dal
(United)
on
Sunday
made
it
clear
that
it
will
not
join
the
Union
council
of
ministers
again,
but
rebuffed
speculations
of
a
rift
with
ally
BJP
asserting
“all
is
well”.

JD(U)
national
president
Rajiv
Ranjan
Singh
alias
Lalan,
who
addressed
a
press
conference
here,
however,
dismissed
queries
about
Kumar’s
absence
at
the
NITI
Aayog
meeting
chaired
by
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi,
with
the
terse
remark
“you
should
ask
the
chief
minister”.

While
there
has
been
no
official
word
on
the
reason
behind
Kumar’s
absence,
sources
close
to
the
chief
minister
said
he
has
excused
himself
citing
post-COVID
debility.
The
septuagenarian,
who
had
tested
positive
on
July
25,
interestingly,
attended
a
function
here,
organised
on
the
occasion
of
National
Handloom
Day,
where
he
shared
the
dais
with
his
cabinet
colleagues,
including
senior
BJP
leaders
Syed
Shahnawaz
Hussain
and
Tarkishore
Prasad.

Lalan,
who
was
regarded
as
a
frontrunner
by
some
for
a
ministerial
berth
from
the
JD(U)
after
RCP
Singh’s
resignation,
clarified
that
the
party
wasn’t
willing
to
have
any
representative
in
the
Union
Council
of
ministers.
“We
had
decided
in
2019,
after
the
Lok
Sabha
polls,
not
to
join
the
government
at
the
Centre.
We
stick
to
that
stand
even
now,”
he
said.
“The
decision
not
to
join
the
Union
government
was
taken
by
our
leader
Nitish
Kumar
who
was
then
also
the
party’s
national
president,”
said
Lalan.
When
pointed
out
that
RCP
became
a
minister
in
2021,
he
shot
back,

“You
should
ask
him
(RCP)
who
was
the
national
president
at
that
time.
He
did
not
take
anybody
in
the
loop
while
arriving
at
the
decision.”
Lalan
also
sought
to
make
light
of
the
exit,
from
the
party,
of
RCP
Singh,
who
resigned
from
the
Union
cabinet
recently
after
being
denied
another
Rajya
Sabha
term.
“He
may
have
left
the
party
only
yesterday.
But
for
long
his
body
was
in
the
party
while
his
soul
was
elsewhere,”
Lalan
said,
without
elaborating.

The
JD(U)
national
president,
however,
advised
RCP,
his
predecessor,
to
“apply
himself
to
wherever
his
heart,
mind
and
soul
lie,
without
engaging
in
diatribe
against
Nitish
Kumar”.
“Nitish
Kumar
is
the
maalik
(lord)
of
the
JD(U).
People
like
RCP
or
I
get
elected
as
the
national
president
because
of
his
benediction.
But
we
must
remember
that
we
are
just
caretakers,”
said
Lalan.
RCP
Singh
quit
the
JD(U)
on
Saturday,
hours
after
reports
surfaced
that
the
party
sought
an
explanation
from
him
over
allegations
of
corruption
levelled
by
some
unidentified
workers.
Lalan,
who
is
a
Lok
Sabha
member,
also
said
that
he
had
no
idea
of
the
agenda
of
a
meeting
of
party
MPs
called
by
the
chief
minister
in
the
evening,
saying,
“I
am
coming
here
straight
from
the
airport.”

He,
however,
asserted
that
the
party’s
ties
with
the
BJP
were
not
under
stress
and
cited
the
JD(U)’s
support
for
NDA
candidates
in
the
recent
elections
for
President
and
Vice
President
as
proof.
“Our
former
state
president
and
Rajya
Sabha
MP
Basishtha
Narayan
Singh
voted
by
reaching
the
polling
centre
in
a
wheelchair.
There
cannot
be
a
stronger
demonstration
of
our
commitment
to
the
BJP-led
NDA,”
said
the
JD(U)
chief.