Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar on Friday strongly endorsed Mr Narendra Modi’s candidature for the prime ministership and expressed confidence that India would develop further during his third term and he would also pay special attention to Bihar.
“We are confident that Modi will develop India and we will wholeheartedly support him every passing day,” he said while addressing a meeting of newly-elected NDA MPs.
This sets at rest all speculations on how Mr Kumar would behave given his unpredictable nature now that his party has won as many as 12 seats in the Lok Sabha and is expected to play a critical role in the stability of the Modi-led NDA government. Mr Kumar was the architect of the Opposition INDIA bloc but left it in January to once again join the BJP-led NDA.
The veteran leader lambasted the Opposition bloc, without taking any names. “Bina matlab ka baat bol bol karke kya kiya hai…in logo ne kuch kaam kiya hai. Desh ki koi seva nahi ki. (What have they done by talking meaninglessly? These people have done no work. They have not done any service for the nation),” he said.
As the new NDA MPs thumped the desks, Mr Kumar said he wanted Mr Modi to take oath of office today itself but he has decided to do so on Sunday.
Other NDA leaders who endorsed Mr Modi’s leadership and spoke on the occasion included Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy, Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-Ajit Pawar) chief Ajit Pawar, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan, Janasena Party chief Pawan Kalyan, Hindustan Awam Morcha-Secular(HAM-S) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi and Apna Dal chief Anupriya Patel.