'No severing ties with BJP in Assembly polls'

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was sought to be coveted by BJP's rivals during Lok Sabha elections on the basis of secular credentials, has ruled out severing ties with the saffron party in the Assembly elections that are due later this year.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was sought to be coveted by BJP's rivals during Lok Sabha elections on the basis of secular credentials, has ruled out severing ties with the saffron party in the Assembly elections that are due later this year.

HT Image

Heading a JD(U)-BJP coalition government that has completed over four years and credited with providing a semblance of governance after 15 years of RJD rule under Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, he claims that he has turned around Bihar and that now it was a matter of pride to call oneself a 'Bihari'.

"I am not a politician who thinks of ditching an ally. Both the parties enjoy strong bonds of relations and the leaders of the two parties know each other for a long period from being an opposition to attaining the seat of power," Kumar told PTI in an interview.

Unfazed by the setback the ruling alliance suffered in the by-polls to 18 assembly constituencies last year after a spectacular performance in the Lok Sabha polls, the Chief Minister said the alliance was strong as evident from the coordination between the two parties catering to all sections, including minorities.