Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar likely to skip Niti Aayog meeting

If Kumar skips the event, it would be the second absence within a month from a major government event despite being a part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA)

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is likely to skip the 7th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, officials familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

A government official did not give any official reason for Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s absence but said that since the CM had just recovered from Covid-19, he wanted to send his deputy instead.

If Kumar skips the event, it would be the second absence within a month from a major government event despite being a part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Earlier, he had stayed away from a dinner hosted by PM Modi for outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind as well as the swearing-in ceremony of President Droupadi Murmu.

A government official did not give any official reason for Kumar’s absence but said that since the CM had just recovered from Covid-19, he wanted to send his deputy instead. The meeting however, is only for CMs.

However, Kumar will be holding his weekly ‘Janata ke Darbar Mein Mukhyamantri’ programme organised on three Mondays of the month. An official communiqué issued by cabinet secretariat said that Kumar would be holding his Janata Darbar on August 8.

NDA leaders in the know of the developments link Kumar’s absence from the meeting to his relations with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“Despite the fact that Union minister Amit Shah, the other day in Patna announced about contesting 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 polls in alliance with the JD (U), there is a sense of mistrust between the two parties. The other day, JD (U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh was non-committal about 2024 and 2025,” said a senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be quoted.

Kumar had also skipped and sent his deputy for a meeting of chief ministers called by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, recently.

“With BJP struggling to find a leadership in state, JD (U) is finding ways and means to pressurise BJP. They want more berths in cabinet now,” said former HOD of Economics, Patna University and political expert, NK Chowdhary.