‘Won’t take him back even if he begs,’ BJP on possibility of Nitish returning to NDA fold

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday ruled out any possibility of returning to the NDA, which he had left a year ago, to which the BJP hit back saying he would not be welcomed even if he begged for realignment. Kumar was speaking at an event organised on the occasion of the birth anniversary of RSS icon Deen Dayal Upadhyay. BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, Kumar’s former deputy, called the JD(U) supremo a “political liability who had lost his steam” and said he would not be welcomed back even if he begged for a realignment (naak ragdenge toh bhi nahin). The drama unfolded at a park in the city’s Rajendra Nagar locality where Kumar came to take part in the function which his government had been holding since the time it shared power with the BJP. Kumar was accompanied, among others, by his current deputy Tejashwi Yadav, whose party RJD takes pride in having remained uncompromising in its opposition to the BJP. Yadav, who offered floral tributes before a statue of Upadhyay, one of the founding members of the BJP’s former avatar Bharatiya Jana Sangh, insisted that his ideological stance notwithstanding, he was not averse to such courtesies. When some journalists claimed he had once said in the assembly that he would discontinue functions held in memory of RSS leaders upon coming to power, Yadav shot back, “I have never said so.” When it was the turn of the chief minister to interact with journalists, he was asked, in a lighter vein, whether he was planning a return to the NDA. Notably, a section of the media has been speculating that Kumar was unhappy with the opposition INDIA coalition not naming him as the convener and that his exchange of pleasantries with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the recent G20 event in New Delhi had more to it than what met the eye. However, the septuagenarian seemed displeased with the kite flying as he snapped, “What rubbish are you talking (Kya faltu baat karte hain),” even as Yadav, who stood by his side, grinned at the exchange. He also responded to queries on future activities of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and voiced disapproval of his party colleagues calling him “prime minister material”. Replying to a query, Kumar said he did not know why BJP leaders, who attended the function to mark the birth anniversary of the late Deen Dayal Upadhyay while in power, were not present this time. However, BJP leaders did reach the spot shortly after the CM, his cabinet colleagues and other government officials had left and the party’s state unit chief Samrat Choudhary alleged that they “were not invited to the function”. Modi, who was part of the BJP contingent, was asked about the possibility of the return to NDA of Kumar, with whom his personal friendship was once the stuff of legend in Bihar’s political circles. The BJP leader, who is now a Rajya Sabha member, asserted that the bridges have been burnt, saying, “Nitish Kumar has now become a liability. He is now incapable of getting a single vote transferred to alliance partners. Why would we then like to realign? All doors are closed for him. He is no more welcome even if he begs to do so by rubbing his nose on the ground.”