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| Edited By: Riddhima Kanetkar |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Jan 26, 2024, 11:16 PM IST
BJP leaders on Thursday held hectic meetings amid the possibility of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joining hands with the party yet again amid his deepening differences with INDIA bloc allies.
Power politics in Bihar intensified on Friday amid strong indications that Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar may do yet another volte-face and return to the BJP-led NDA with former state deputy chief minister and BJP Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi asserting that "doors are never closed permanently" in politics.
The trouble between JD(U) and RJD was out in the open when Kumar attended the high tea ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan in Patna on the occasion of the Republic Day but his deputy Tejashwi Yadav skipped the function. Kumar was seen exchanging pleasantries with other guests, including BJP’s Vijay Kumar Sinha, who is also the leader of the opposition in the state assembly.
Emerging from the function, Kumar curtly told reporters that it was for Yadav and other leaders of the RJD, including Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, to comment on why they skipped the function. The only notable attendee from the party was state education minister Alok Mehta.
Neither Mehta nor any other leader of the RJD commented on the absence of Yadav, who, according to sources, was meeting close leaders of the party at his residence to chalk out a strategy to thwart the loss of power in the event of Kumar deciding to call off the alliance.
"There is a lot of confusion which is not in the interest of the people of the state. Only the Chief Minister can put an end to the confusion. We hope he will do so...," RJD national spokesman and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar told reporters.
When asked about Jha's remarks, JD (U) chief spokesperson in the state, Neeraj Kumar shot back: "Our leader is in the Chief Minister’s residence as the leader of the Mahagathbandhan. There should be no scope for confusion. But if some people still choose to remain in confusion, we cannot help it”.
In Delhi, Modi said "they (doors) open and close as per the necessity", when asked by reporters about the BJP's earlier stand that its doors were closed for Kumar forever after he snapped ties with the party in August 2022.
"As far as Kumar or the JD(U) are concerned, doors are never permanently closed in politics. Closed doors open when the time comes but whether they will open or not is for our central leadership to decide," he asserted.
(With inputs from PTI)
