The Janata Dal (United) of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would not be a member of the Union Council of Ministers again; a top party official stated on Sunday (August 7).
Following the departure of former JD(U) leader RCP Singh, Nitish Kumar’s party is no longer represented in the Narendra Modi-led Central government.
“We continue to our position of 2019,” JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan said at a news conference after the Lok Sabha elections. “We had resolved not to join the government at the Centre.”
Our leader Nitish Kumar, who at the time also served as the party’s national president, decided to leave the Union administration, said Lalan Singh.
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Attacking RCP Singh, who left the JD(U) a day earlier, Singh said that certain individuals were attempting to harm the party. ANI reported the JD(U) national president as stating, “JD(U) isn’t a sinking ship, it’s a sailing ship, some individuals are attempting to destroy it. Nitish Kumar recognized those who were trying to damage it and made efforts to fix it.
After being denied a second term in the Rajya Sabha, RCP Singh recently resigned from the Union cabinet. He left the JD(U) on Saturday, August 6, hours after the party demanded an explanation from him on corruption charges by some unnamed employees.
He had referred to JDU as a “sinking ship” and labeled the accusations “baseless.” “Someone is trying to discredit me. There is no land registered in my name. All of the allegations made against me are unfounded. Jealousy cannot be cured, according to JDU. In these conditions, I’m unable to go further with them,” RCP Singh had remarked.
Rajiv Ranjan Singh also refuted rumors that the JDU and the BJP were at odds, saying “everything is okay.”
After Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar chose to boycott today’s NITI Aayog meeting, which was presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the rumors of unhappiness between the two NDA partners became more intense.
According to PTI sources, Kumar excused himself from the meeting, citing post-Covid debility.
