Nitish’s surprise visit to minister triggers cabinet expansion buzz

Kumar and Choudhary had talks in a closed room briefly, after which the CM left, leaving everyone guessing. Choudhary also did not throw light on what transpired between them

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday made an unscheduled visit to the residence of his cabinet colleague and finance minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, minutes before the latter was going to address a pre-scheduled press conference.

The meeting between chief minister Nitish Kumar and finance minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary assumes significance amid cabinet expansion speculations. (HT Photo)

The meeting assumes significance in the midst of heightened political temperature and the much-speculated cabinet expansion, about which Congress president Akhilesh Singh has categorically said it could happen within a week.

Kumar and Choudhary had talks in a closed room briefly, after which the CM left, leaving everyone guessing. Choudhary also did not throw light on what transpired between them. “The CM keeps coming off and on, but today it was a surprise for me also,” is all Choudhary told waiting media persons, though he is learnt to have gone to Kumar’s residence immediately after that.

A senior leader in the government said the cabinet expansion was the prerogative of the CM and that it would happen when he decides. “But in politics, nobody can be stopped from making statements as one wishes. Nitish Kumar does not do anything without a plan,” he added.

Without giving any specific answer to the impromptu visit of the CM, Choudhary took on the state BJP for trying to malign Bihar despite the recent report of the Niti Aayog report which mentions the Centre’s appreciation of the good work in the state .

The two leaders are known to be close to each other and as the parliamentary affairs minister, Choudhary, who was also the Speaker earlier, has been the voice of the government in the legislature as well as outside on all important issues. When former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s son Santosh Suman quit the ministry last month, he handed over his resignation to Choudhary only.

The CM also has in recent days been making visits to the houses of several leaders, which has not been his usual practice. A few days ago, he visited JD-U president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh’s residence. He also went to RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s residence a couple of days ago. Before that, he went to the Raj Bhawan and made it appear as if he had gone to oversee ongoing constructions there.

At the press conference, Choudhary stuck to the Centre’s endorsement of Bihar’s efforts in reducing poverty due to Nitish Kumar’s vision and action.

“The report has acknowledged Bihar’s significant contribution in bringing down the poverty level in the country, which could happen only due to Nitish Kumar’s farsightedness and effective implementation of policies and programmes on the ground. But the BJP leaders in the state say it was possible due to the Centre. They should be graceful enough to accept the truth, and appreciating Nitish Kumar for his contribution will only reflect them in good light,” he added.

Maintaining that the BJP leaders should not blindly oppose Nitish Kumar, Choudhary said while the rate of poverty reduction was 18.13% in Bihar, the national average was 9.89%. “Can the BJP leaders point to any scheme which was given exclusively for helping Bihar?” he asked. “If all the states got financial allocation as per the Finance Commission’s recommendations, other states should have also achieved the same rate. Bihar people know it is all because of prudent fiscal management and targeted poverty alleviation and rural development programmes of Nitish Kumar,” he said.

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