Ahead of Nitish Kumar’s swearing-in, former Bihar deputy chief minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sushil Kumar Modi claimed that the chief minister wanted to become the Vice-President of India.
"Nitish wanted to become Vice-President of India. Many JD(U) senior leaders sounded BJP Ministers if it is possible [sic]," he tweeted.
Speaking at a press conference, he said that Nitish Kumar has a “habit of ditching allies.” He further claimed that Kumar would be disloyal to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and would “try to break that party, taking advantage of Lalu Prasad's ill-health.”
Speaking about Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav’s oath-taking ceremony, Sushil Modi said:
“We have received no invitation. We would have, in any case, not liked to witness formation of a government which has been installed after betraying the people of Bihar, who voted for the NDA in the last assembly polls, and is an insult to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who stuck to his promise of backing Kumar for another term, despite the JD(U)'s poor performance.”Former Bihar Deputy Chief and senior BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi
‘Shiv Sena Came Apart, We Were Not Its Allies Then,’ Says Sushil Kumar Modi
Sushil Kumar Modi also said that the JD(U) accused his party of betraying allies, citing examples of the Shiv Sena and the recent political upheaval in Maharashtra, and added, "Shiv Sena came apart. And we were not its allies then."
He further claimed that Tejashwi Yadav “will try to act as the de facto CM,” given that his party has more seats in the Bihar Assembly.
“He will also be under pressure to deliver on the promise of 10 lakh government jobs he had been making to the people of the state. This will unsettle Nitish and the internal contradictions will cause the government to collapse before 2025,” the former deputy CM said.
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.”
The Bihar Chief Minister also asserted that the new government would function properly and fulfil all the promises made to the people of Bihar.
(With inputs from PTI)
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