Nothing extraordinary about JD(U) conclave, says Nitish Kumar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday asserted that the JDUs twoday conclave in Delhi was a normal and annual affair with nothing extraordinary about it debunking speculations of turmoil in his partyShortly before leaving for the National capital where a meeting of the partys national office bearers later in the day will be followed by meetings of the national executive and national council on Friday the JDU supreme leader paused for a moment when journalists posed to him queries about rumours doing the rounds for the past few daysThe rumours have primarily been about the impending resignation of JDU national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan for alleged proximity towards ally RJD at the expense of loyalty to his own party A section of the media has even claimed that after having dumped the BJP in August last year Kumar was now planning an aboutturnThe chief minister did not address these queries comprehensively pointing out that he was running short of time but quipped the meeting is an annual affair It is normal with nothing extraordinary about itThe septuagenarian made the utterances in the presence of his young deputy Tejashwi Yadav the son and heir apparent of RJD president Lalu Prasad who had accompanied his boss to a government function held here on the occasion of the birth anniversary of late BJP leader Arun JaitleyKumar who had allied with the BJP for long has been open about the personal affinity he felt towards Jaitley and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and government functions held in their memory here continue despite his having snapped ties with the saffron partyYadav whose partys staunch rivalry with the BJP is well known has made peace with the fondness his boss has for the aforementioned late leadersWhen journalists asked the RJD leader about the controversy he shot back It is all the work of a BJPinclined media which is at work whenever our government in the state achieves something historicYadav added The rumour mill was at work when our government conducted the caste survey and followed it up with rise in quotas for the deprived castes Now we have another feather in our cap with the cabinet approving government employee status for nearly 35 lakh contractual teachersThe Deputy CM also rued that rumours about the JDU had persisted despite stout denials by more than one ministers who were also senior leaders of that partyI wonder what is so unusual about a Biharbased party holding its meetings of national executive and national council in Delhi Had we RJD not done the same last year asked YadavHe also maintained that the INDIA coalition will face no difficulty in finalising seatsharing in Bihar where five of its constituents JDU RJD Congress and three Left parties form the states ruling coalitionMeanwhile state BJP president Samrat Choudhary also turned up at the memorial of Arun Jaitley shortly afterwards and declared that his partys doors were closed for Nitish KumarHe also added We have no interest in the rumblings in the JDU and asserted the BJP is focused on winning the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and the Bihar assembly elections due in 2025This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever