Brushing aside claims made by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sushil Modi that the Janata Dal (United) had split with the National Democratic Alliance because Nitish Kumar was not made the vice president, the Bihar Chief Minister on Thursday, 11 August, termed it bogus.
"Is it a joke? I have no such desire. Did they forget how much our party supported their President and Vice President candidate? We were waiting for the election to be over and then convened our meeting."Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister
Subsequently, news agency ANI quoted Modi as saying, "Now he (Nitish Kumar) will say that it's a lie. But two of his close aides spoke twice to Bihar senior leaders to find a way to make him Vice President."
"We said that it's not possible. It's 100% true (that this conversation took place)," the BJP MP added.
A day after breaking the alliance with the NDA in the state, Nitish Kumar took oath on Wednesday as the chief minister of the Mahagathbandhan government.
Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday had claimed that the chief minister wanted to become the vice president of India.
Addressing reporters, he had claimed that Nitish Kumar has a “habit of ditching allies” and so would be disloyal to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and “try to break that party, taking advantage of Lalu Prasad's ill-health.”
“Some JD(U) people had come to say that make Nitish Kumar Vice-President and you rule the state,” Sushil Modi said adding the BJP never betrayed anyone.
Even though Nitish Kumar said that he had no aspirations to occupy the Prime Minister's post, he had quipped, “They should remember 2014 is past. They need to worry ('chinta karni chahiye') about 2024.”
(With inputs from ANI.)
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