Am surprised, says Nitish Kumar on reports that he may opt for Rajya Sabha

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has put to rest all speculations that he was aiming for something big in national politics.

PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday denied any plans to move to Rajya Sabha, putting to rest all speculations that he was looking for rehabilitation at the Centre after quitting the CM’s post.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar during an informal interaction with media persons had spoken about his interest in going to the Rajya Sabha, the only House he has not represented in his over four-decade-long political career. (File)

Talking to media persons after casting his vote for MLC polls being held today, Kumar said, “Kuch bhi chapte rahta hai (Anything is getting published).” “I was also surprised to see the reports,” he added.

A few days back, during an informal interaction with media persons in his legislative assembly chamber, Kumar had spoken about his interest in going to the Rajya Sabha, the only House he has not represented in his over four-decade-long political career. His remarks set the rumour mills flying that he was aiming for something big in national politics.

Six Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar are falling vacant in July this year, two of which are with the Janata Dal-United (JD-U). Out of the remaining four, two are with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and one with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). One seat belongs to RJD’s Sharad Yadav. He was disqualified under the Anti-Defection Act but the matter is pending in court.

Kumar, to ward off any speculations of differences in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) said that he will be visiting Bochchan on April 10 to campaign for the BJP candidate. The by-polls for Bochchan assembly seat are to be held on April 12.

Senior JD(U) and BJP leaders too contradicted the speculations doing the rounds in political and bureaucratic circles that Kumar might opt for the Rajya Sabha berth and thereby pave the way for power transfer in the state.

“The talks about the CM contemplating to go to RS were mischievous and far from the truth... Nitish Kumar was face of the NDA in 2020 assembly elections in Bihar and the people voted the alliance to the power. His unwavering commitment to serve the people and his ability to transform Bihar are sacrosanct. I urge all to desist from such propaganda,” said Jha in a string of tweets, adding that Kumar will complete his term as the CM.

Deputy CM and senior BJP leader Tarkishore Prasad too jumped in support of Kumar’s continuance, saying that he has been instrumental in transforming Bihar. “This is not proper to guess that Kumar is leaving the state and these are just speculations,” Prasad said.

Earlier, BJP MLA Vijay Bihari said that Kumar had lost his charisma which he had during the first stint as the CM and demanded that BJP senior leader Tarkishore Prasad should be made the CM.