BJP-JDU in war of words over Nitish Kumar as PM candidate

“There is no challenger to Modiji right now. Modiji ke saamane koi tikanewala hai?” asked Union minister Ram Kripal Yadav.

Yadav further mocked at “PM idea” saying the party which can’t form its government in Bihar alone is talking about installing Kumar as the PM.

Another senior BJP leader Dr CP Thakur too said there was no challenger to the party at the moment.

“JD-U should first try to come out of Bihar before nursing this ambition,” Thakur said.

The reactions came a day after the JD-U said chief minister Nitish Kumar has all the qualities of a Prime Minister.

“Nitish Kumar is a popular leader and he has all the qualities of a PM although our party is not so big that we could project him for country’s top job,” JD-U’s national spokesperson KC Tyagi said on Sunday while attending the two-day meeting of party’s national executive which began at Rajgir in Nalanda district.

“Although our party doesn’t have national presence, Nitish Kumar is one of the main contenders for PM’s post in the country,” Tyagi claimed.

The move is being described as part of the JD-U’s strategy to project Kumar as PM candidate and the main challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the next Lok Sabha polls due in 2019.

The Bihar chief minister in the capacity of JD-U’s national president has already been undertaking nation-wide tour and has held rallies in many states, highlighting his soaring national ambition.

Right now, JD-U has only two MPS in Lok Sabha. In the last 2014 LS polls, the party fielded its candidates on all 40 seats but managed to win only two—a loss of 18 seats in the massive Modi wave.

The meeting also decided to bring the anti-BJP forces together to give a concerted fight to Hindu nationalist party.

thebiharpost.com/IBNS

Image: Nitish Kumar Twitter