JD(U) Not To Join Union Council Of Ministers Again; All Well With BJP: Party National President

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar바카라�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 바카라�all is well바카라�.

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

While there has been no official word on the reason behind Kumar바카라�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 Singh바카라�s resignation, clarified that the party wasn바카라�t willing to have any representative in the Union Council of ministers. 바카라�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,바카라� he said.

바카라�The decision not to join the Union government was taken by our leader Nitish Kumar who was then also the party바카라�s national president,바카라� said Lalan. When pointed out that RCP became a minister in 2021, he shot back, 바카라�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. 바카라�He may have left the party only yesterday. But for long his body was in the party while his soul was elsewhere,바카라� Lalan said, without elaborating.

The JD(U) national president, however, advised RCP, his predecessor, to 바카라�apply himself to wherever his heart, mind and soul lie, without engaging in diatribe against Nitish Kumar".바카라�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,바카라� 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, 바카라�I am coming here straight from the airport.바카라�

He, however, asserted that the party바카라�s ties with the BJP were not under stress and cited the JD(U)바카라�s support for NDA candidates in the recent elections for President and Vice President as proof. 바카라�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,바카라� said the JD(U) chief.

(With PTI Inputs)