BJP should have made Sushil Modi Bihar CM after 2020 polls: Nitish Kumar

India

oi-Prakash KL

Patna, Aug 10:
Bihar
Chief
Minister
Nitish
Kumar
on
Wednesday
said
that
the
BJP
central
leadership
should
have
made
Sushil
Kumar
Modi
as
the
Chief
Minister
of
Bihar
after
the
2020
Assembly
polls
instead
of
insisting
that
he
run
for
another
term
in
office.

The
JD(U)
leader,
who
snapped
ties
with
the
BJP
on
Tuesday
and
joined
hands
with
the
opposition
RJD
to
return
as
the
CM,
made
the
remark
as
a
riposte
to
allegations
levelled
against
himself
by
Modi,
his
former
deputy.

“He
has
been
a
dear
friend.
Why
was
he
not
made
the
CM?
Had
he
been
appointed
to
the
post,
things
would
not
have
reached
this
stage,”
he
told
reporters
in
reply
to
questions
about
Modi.
Kumar
has
been
maintaining
that
he
was
in
no
mood
to
continue
after
the
elections
in
which
his
party
fared
badly
but
relented
upon
the
insistence
of
leaders
of
the
BJP.

The
alliance
was
called
off
in
keeping
with
a
“unanimous
sentiment”
expressed
by
JD(U)
leaders
who
accused
the
BJP
of
a
“conspiracy”
to
obliterate
the
party.

Modi
was
replaced
as
the
deputy
CM
by
two
less-known
BJP
leaders
after
the
polls.
After
Modi
was
sent
to
Rajya
Sabha
more
than
a
year
ago,
there
were
speculations
that
he
would
be
considered
for
a
cabinet
berth
at
the
Centre.

JD(U)
leader
Nitish
Kumar
on
Wednesday
took
oath
as
Bihar
chief
minister
for
a
record
eighth
time
in
a
no-frills
ceremony
at
Raj
Bhavan,
a
day
after
snapping
ties
with
the
BJP-led
NDA
and
joining
hands
with
the
RJD
to
form
a
‘Mahagathbandhan’ government.

Kumar
was
sworn
in
besides
RJD’s
Tejashwi
Yadav,
who
is
likely
to
be
designated
as
his
deputy.
A
notification
is
likely
to
be
issued
tonight,
naming
him
as
the
deputy
chief
minister.
Other
cabinet
ministers
will
be
sworn
in
later
once
the
three
main
alliance
partners
—
the
JD(U),
RJD
and
Congress
—
decide
on
the
number
of
berths
and
the
legislators
who
will
be
made
ministers.

Kumar
is
likely
to
retain
the
all-important
Home
portfolio,
while
the
RJD
may
get
most
of
the
departments
that
were
previously
with
the
BJP,
a
highly-placed
source
said.

He
said
an
in-principle
agreement
has
been
reached
about
the
composition
of
the
new
cabinet,
which
is
likely
to
have
“35
members
or
more”,
drawn
from
Kumar’s
JD(U),
the
RJD
and
the
Congress.