‘Vajpayee liked me a lot, made me CM…Some mistakes happened’, says Nitish Kumar

In January this year, Nitish Kumar returned to the NDA, less than two years after he had dumped the BJP-led coalition to join hands with Lalu Prasad's RJD.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday recalled his association with former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, adding that the late Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart made him as the CM decades ago. 

Addressing a rally in Bihar's Arrah, the 73-year-old leader said,"I was a minister in late Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji's government. He liked me a lot. He only made me the chief minister of Bihar. Some mistakes happened here and there but now we will work together."

“We used to see that no work was getting done. During their government, no one could leave their homes after the evening out of fear... There were clashes because of them. They only wanted Muslim votes... But the Hindu-Muslim clashes were more... Are there any clashes after we came to power?” ANI quoted the chief minister, taking a veiled jibe at the Rashtriya Janata Dal which ruled the state for 15 years until Kumar took over.

Hailing his government's achievements, Kumar added,"We worked for Hindus, Muslims, upper caste, backwards, extremely backwards, Dalits and Mahadalits... We did a lot of work for the Muslim community also. Madrasas were given governmental recognition and the teachers were given salaries equal to government school teachers. They (Opposition) kept taking votes and never did anything."

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.(PTI file)

Nitish Kumar's JD(U) a key NDA ally

With 12 Lok Sabha MPs, Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) is a key ally of the BJP in the NDA government. 

In January this year, Kumar returned to the NDA, less than two years after he had dumped the BJP-led coalition to join hands with Lalu Prasad's RJD. 

Nitish Kumar, who started his political career during the JP movement in the 1970s, ended the 17-year-long alliance with the BJP in 2013 and reunited with RJD. 

He contested the 2015 Bihar assembly elections with RJD and Congress as part of Mahagathbandhan and secured a landslide victory. But the alliance did not last long and Kumar dumped the RJD to return to NDA. 

He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and 2020 Bihar assembly elections as part of the NDA. But in 2022, he walked out of the alliance and rejoined the Mahagathbandhan.

RJD hits back at Nitish Kumar

Responding to the Bihar chief minister's statement, RJD MP Misa Bharti said,"Who distributed the appointment letters when Tejashwi Yadav was the Dy CM?... 3.5 lakh people were given appointment letters at once. If this was a mistake, then I hope the politicians make such mistakes again and again so that the people of Bihar can benefit from it."

“How many appointment letters have they distributed after we went out of the government?... What is he trying to prove by saying this again and again? This means something is not right within,” Bharti told ANI.