“All the people we have here are our friends. We are different, you are different, does it mean our friendship will end? You will remain connected to me as long as I live. We will all work together. President, we are very happy that you are here. We would like you to keep coming here. We will show you the entire Champaran once, the land of Mahatma Gandhi,” Nitish Kumar said.

Speaking in the presence of President Droupadi Murmu and Governor Rajendra Arlekar, Kumar had freely spoken of the tussle he had with the then Congress government at the Centre for getting a varsity approved for Motihari, where Mahatma Gandhi had launched the Champaran Satyagraha.

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Without mentioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi by name, Kumar acknowledged that the project saw the light of the day only after a change of guard “in 2014” as the UPA government “initially refused and after much persuasion agreed in principle but did not move forward”.

However, the remark of friendship from CM Nitish Kumar to BJP leader did not landwell with the BJP or his ally Rashtriya Janata Dal. 

CM Nitish Kumar‘s statement earned BJP‘s scorn who said ‘doors’ are closed for ther JD(U) leader. Notably Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who dumped the saffron party a year ago, stripping it of power in the state.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh said, “This was not love for BJP, this is the tussle between older brother and younger brother…Whenever Lalu Yadav overpowers him, he (Nitish Kumar) says that he will go with BJP…He scares Lalu Yadav. The doors and windows of BJP as well as each and every worker of the party are shut (for Nitish Kumar)…What is he left with now? Doors of BJP are shut.”

The RJD, an ally of Nitish Kumar, however played down the comments saying the Bihar Chief Minister was speaking of his personal relationships.

“Radha Mohan Singh (of BJP) was sitting in front, so he spoke about his personal relationship. There is no mention of any party. People interpreted him incorrectly” said RJD’s Shakti Yadav.

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Updated: 19 Oct 2023, 11:23 PM IST