Bihar CM stays away as Meira Kumar arrives

Patna: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday suddenly left for Rajgir in Nalanda. Party leaders explained he needed rest. “The chief minister has not been keeping well and needs to take rest. He has left for Rajgir where he will rest for two days,” they said.

Speculation is rife that Mr Kumar’s sudden decision to stay away from Patna was taken as the Opposition’s presidential nominee Meira Kumar was expected to visit him at his official residence in Patna. Sources said that the schedule of Meira Kumar’s proposed visit was not communicated to the chief minister’s office. Last week, during his weekly samvad program, Mr Kumar had told reporters that he had no information about her visit to Patna.

JD(U) spokesperson Niraj Kumar asked, “Why did Bihar ki Beti choose to visit her home state so late?” 

Nitish Kumar had sparked off a debate last month by deciding to support BJP’s Presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind. His decision was opposed by Congress senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and RJD chief Lalu Yadav. 

Mr Yadav termed the decision “a historical blunder”, while Mr Azad called Nitish Kumar “man of many principals”. 

Meira Kumar, the former Lok Sabha speaker, and Opposition’s presidential nominee, is the daughter of senior Dalit leader Babu Jagjivan Ram. 

Upon her arrival in Patna on Thursday, she termed the presidential contest as an “ideological war”, and urged MLAs and MPs to support her. Bihar Congress state president Ashok Chaudhary, who is also the education minister in Nitish Kumar’s Cabinet, was at the airport to receive her. Later, she held a meeting with leaders of RJD and Congress in Patna. A large section in the Congress that was present during the meeting said, “It would have been better if all three coalition partners were present.”.