Addressing a press conference here, a day after the Rashtriya Lok Morcha president had caused a flutter with his social media post, Kushwaha made it clear that he considers Nitish Kumar as an “incomparable leader, among the top five political figures in the country”.
“What I had said yesterday was the sentiment of thousands of JD(U) workers. Because of my past, I remain in touch with the party workers. They, too, are comfortable in sharing their sentiments with me. I had merely voiced their sentiments,” claimed Kushwaha, who had quit the outfit headed by the chief minister over a couple of years ago.
The Rajya Sabha MP, who had been the chairman of the JD(U) parliamentary board, was of the view that Bihar’s longest-serving CM would do better to concentrate on running the government “in the interests of the state”.
However, Kushwaha was also of the view that the 75-year-old JD(U) president would do well by giving up the reins of the party, which has found “new hope” in Nishant, the reclusive son of Kumar.
Kushwaha, however, evaded a direct reply on queries about the prospects of Nishant.”I am not sure what is in the mind of Nishant or Nitish Kumar ji. But, of course, anybody is free to enter politics. As per the Constitution, a person willing to enter politics cannot be lawfully prevented from doing so even by his closest family members,” Kushwaha said cryptically.He announced that his party will be holding a rally in Patna on September 5.
The remarks of Kushwaha, who has been in and out of JD(U) at least thrice, seem to have left the party in disarray.
JD(U) chief state spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar reacted to Kushwaha’s statement, saying, “Only Nitish Kumar can take a decision on Nishant.”
He asserted that the party has full faith in the leadership of the patriarch.
Kumar has been the JD(U)’s supreme leader ever since it was formed in 2003 and though he has been its national president for more than a year, for the most part, the top post has been held by his key aides.
