Pavan Varma meets Nitish, dismisses buzz of return to JD(U)

Pavan Varma had fallen out with Kumar over the latter’s ambivalence over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) Bill, which JD(U) had supported in both houses of Parliament.

Pavan Varma, the diplomat-turned-politician who had served as a national general secretary of the Janata Dal (United) until his expulsion from the party in 2020, met Bihar chief minister and the party’s de facto supremo Nitish Kumar on Monday night, fuelling speculation of his return to the party.

Former JD(U) leader Pavan Verma (HT Photo)

Varma, a former Rajya Sabha member from JD(U), recently quit the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, which he had joined months ago.

“My meeting with Nitish ji was a courtesy call. We have been old friends, notwithstanding political differences that may have emerged from time to time. We have personal relationship and I respect him. Even after my expulsion from JD(U), we talked and met,” Varma said on Tuesday about his meeting with Kumar.

The former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, however, said he had no plans to join any political party as of now. “I came to congratulate him after he became leader of the new alliance and for his efforts to forge opposition unity, which is a praiseworthy step,” he said.

“Nitish ji and I have to decide on what will be my cooperation in this. But, this has not been talked about yet,” he said.

Varma had fallen out with Kumar over the latter’s ambivalence over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) Bill, which JD(U) had supported in both houses of Parliament.

The former diplomat had expressed his strong opposition on the issue and even shared details of conversations with the Bihar CM wherein the latter, then in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), had expressed “his discomfort over the BJP’s Hindutva politics”.

Varma, along with election strategist Prashant Kishor, was expelled from the party in 2020.

Varma’s meeting with Kumar has also sparked speculation that he could act as a bridge between Kumar and Kishor, who, of late, has been trading barbs with the chief minister.

Kishor is currently on statewide tour in Bihar as part of his public outreach programme.

Varma is said to have introduced Kishor to Kumar in 2018 and the buzz is that he has been assigned the task of “winning back” the election strategist.

Varma, however, dismissed the speculation. “It is true that I keep on talking and meeting Kishor, but it is for the two (Kishor and Kumar) to decide on the issue,” he said.