Nitish Kumar skips Droupadi Murmu’s oath ceremony; NDA leaders quell rumours

JD(U) president and MP Rajiv Ranjan, alias Lalan Singh, too did not attend the event, but he played down speculations over Kumar’s absence as a “non-issue”

The Janata Dal (United) was quick to extend support to the National Democratic Alliance’s nominees for the posts of President and Vice-President. But, the absence of Bihar chief minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar from the swearing-in ceremony of Droupadi Murmu as the 15th President of India in New Delhi did come as a surprise to many, once triggering speculations whether all was well within the NDA camp.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. (HT File Photo)

JD(U) president and MP Rajiv Ranjan, alias Lalan Singh, too did not attend the event, but he played down speculations over Kumar’s absence as a “non-issue”.

“All our MPs attended the swearing in function. The CM did not go as he had pre-scheduled organisational engagements. I have reached Delhi as in the evening there is a meeting on the Vice-President’s election... Our party was well represented at the function,” Singh said.

NDA nominee Jagdeep Dhankhar was scheduled to meet NDA MPs in Delhi on Monday evening.

BJP MLC Devesh Kumar too said that not much should be read into Kumar’s absence as he may have had ‘important engagements’ as the CM. “All his party MPs were there. Had he been free, he would have also been there. There is no point making an issue out of a non-issue,” he said.

However, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) state president Jagdanand Singh was quick to brand it as a reflection of an “unnatural alliance”. “Both connived to loot the people’s mandate, but now the fissures are getting wider with each passing day. Looters always show great unity while carrying out the loot, but they start fighting over the share as selfishness takes precedence. Here, the interest is the chair. One wants to hold on to it, while the other wants to grab it even at the cost of people’s plight,” he told media persons.

Jagdanand said if Nitish Kumar completely aligned with ideologies of his alliance partner – the Bharatiya Janata Party, it would mean that he has drifted away from socialism and secularism. “If the fight is only for the chair, it is his prerogative. But I know only thing, that a person should always remain true to his ideology,” he added.

Former Rajya Sabha MP and RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari speculated that the CM may ‘again be up to something’. “What exactly he is up to, only he can say,” he said.

Even JD(U)’s parliamentary board chairman Upendra Kushwaha said the party extended its support to the new President and it is not important for everyone to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

Kushwaha said Nitish Kumar is the tallest leader in Bihar, and visits of other leaders don’t make much of a difference. “The BJP keeps doing its organisational work and its leaders keep attending them. It is BJP’s affair and does not make any difference to the JD(U),” he said, a point that was echoed by Lalan Singh as well.