Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale on Saturday said that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar can return to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) anytime. Speaking to reporters in Patna, Mr. Athawale praised the Bihar CM for his “good work in the State”. He also labelled the next Opposition meeting in Mumbai a failure and asked Mr. Kumar not to attend it.
“Nitishji is with us and he can return to the NDA anytime. Earlier he was with RJD [Rashtriya Janata Dal] and he returned to NDA and again he has gone to RJD. I am not happy that Nitishji has left us again. He is a seasoned politician and I want to ask one thing - if at all he wanted to go with RJD then why did he return to BJP? I have had good relations with Nitishji from the time he was Railway Minister in the regime of [former PM] Atal Bihari Vajpayee,” Mr. Athawale said.
Interestingly, BJP leaders of Bihar have been constantly saying that the door for Mr. Kumar has been shut forever. Even Union Minister Amit Shah during his visit in April had categorically stated this in his speech. Earlier this month, senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi said that even if Mr. Kumar “rubs his nose at BJP’s door, the party will not accept him”. Mr. Modi had said that the BJP carried him for 17 long years but the party will neither accept nor carry him in the future.
