patna:
Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday expressed his dismay over speculation about his possible candidacy for the presidential election, which will take place later this year, claiming that the matter has never been brought up with him.
In response to questions from journalists, the JD(U) leader said he does not tend (ruffle) nor aspiration (akanksha) for the top job and is happy to serve the people of the state.
The current rumor about his possible candidacy did not have his approval (samarthan), said Mr Kumar.
“I am stunned (ghor ashcharya† No one has even discussed the matter with me,” Kumar exclaimed a day after Maharashtra’s minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik publicly stated that his party, led by Sharad Pawar, could consider appointing the chief minister of Bihar for the supreme constitutional support function.
However, Mr Malik had made it clear that this would only be possible if Mr Kumar, who leads his government in Bihar in alliance with the BJP, cut ties with the BJP.
There are reports in a section of the media that political strategist Prashant Kishor, who met Kumar last week in Delhi, was lobbying for the JD(U) leader he has worked with politically and professionally.
However, Mr Kumar, who is Bihar’s longest serving Prime Minister and is now in his 70s, tried to shed light on such reports.
Asked if he suspected the speculation was fueled by the opposition to create mistrust between him and the BJP, Mr Kumar said: “It’s not even that”.
President Ram Nath Kovind’s term of office ends in July this year. Although the BJP rules the Center with a brutal majority in Lok Sabha, it does not have a sufficient number of Rajya Sabha and legislators from states and union territories and may need to draft a candidate acceptable to, at least some, of the opposition parties.
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