Meet with Modi not political, says Nitish; explains absence at Sonia's meet

New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday should not be given any "political" interpretation.

"This has nothing to do with politics. In the honour of Mauritius Prime Minister, our prime minister invited me to the lunch. Everyone knows that Mauritius has close ties with India, especially Bihar as more than half of Mauritius people have their origins in Bihar. I came here to discuss the problems faced by Bihar," Kumar told reporters outside Bihar Bhawan, in New Delhi.

He said he met the Prime Minister as Bihar's Chief Minister and not as a representative of political party, adding that the meeting pertained to floods that have been ravaging the state.

"I came here to discuss one of the major problems Bihar has been facing. Every year our lands are ravaged by floods caused due to over flowing of Ganga River. Apart from that I have also requested for silt management policy and asked the Prime Minster to send a group of scientist to analyse the situation," Kumar said.

When asked about the reason for his absence on a lunch invitation by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Kumar said, "I had already met Sonia on April 20, she invited me and during that we disused about the Presidential polls. It was already decided that Sharad Yadav will be representing from our party."

"I did not skip the lunch. This is a mere misinterpretation," Nitish added.

On Friday, more than 17 political parties took part in Sonia Gandhi's luncheon to hold discussions on naming a candidate from the Opposition for presidential polls. But Kumar was absent from the event.