PATNA: Back in the state capital after attending the swearing in of PM Narendra Modi and his cabinet, CM Nitish Kumar on Friday again ruled out the possibility of his party joining the government at the Centre in the near future.
“There is no need of it now. We are with the NDA without joining the Modi government. There is no need of being in the cabinet to continue being a part of NDA,” Nitish said, underlining that his party would prefer a “proportional representation” of allies in the Union government.
However, the Bihar CM also chose to send out a terse message to its ally. Responding to a question he said, NDA’s victory in the state was the "victory of the people" of Bihar and “if anyone thinks it is their victory it will not be right”.
JD(U) had on Thursday refused to accept the BJP’s proposal of a “symbolic representation” in the Union council of ministers, which was being offered to all its allies.
Talking to reporters outside Patna airport he said, “If we decide to join the Modi government, people will say we were disgruntled because we wanted a certain number of ministerial berths and that we are joining the cabinet now after getting the desired number or nearer to the desired number of berths in the cabinet. There is no need of such things now.”
He referred to his recent talks with BJP president and now Union home minister Amit Shah on the issue of joining the Modi cabinet, to explain why his party chose not to join the government.
“After an NDA meeting, Shah had invited me for discussions. I went to meet him and Shah informed me that an MP from each NDA ally will be inducted into the Modi cabinet as ‘symbolic representation’. We wanted to know how many berth was being given to others and how many people from Bihar are being inducted. But he talked about only symbolic representation. So I told him I will discuss the matter with the JD(U) core team.”
Nitish added that all members of the JD(U) core team refused to accept BJP’s proposal of symbolic representation and favoured “proportional representation” of allies if they join the government.
Responding to a query, Nitish said, “In Bihar cabinet, all allies have been given proportional representation. In Bihar, who is getting what, the number of ministers and name of departments, was discussed and decided prior to formation of the coalition government.”
Nitish added, “Even in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the allies were given proportionate representation. But then, BJP did not have a majority of its own then. It was an NDA government. Today the situation is different. BJP has enough numbers to run the government on its own.”
“There is no need of it now. We are with the NDA without joining the Modi government. There is no need of being in the cabinet to continue being a part of NDA,” Nitish said, underlining that his party would prefer a “proportional representation” of allies in the Union government.
However, the Bihar CM also chose to send out a terse message to its ally. Responding to a question he said, NDA’s victory in the state was the "victory of the people" of Bihar and “if anyone thinks it is their victory it will not be right”.
JD(U) had on Thursday refused to accept the BJP’s proposal of a “symbolic representation” in the Union council of ministers, which was being offered to all its allies.
Talking to reporters outside Patna airport he said, “If we decide to join the Modi government, people will say we were disgruntled because we wanted a certain number of ministerial berths and that we are joining the cabinet now after getting the desired number or nearer to the desired number of berths in the cabinet. There is no need of such things now.”
He referred to his recent talks with BJP president and now Union home minister Amit Shah on the issue of joining the Modi cabinet, to explain why his party chose not to join the government.
“After an NDA meeting, Shah had invited me for discussions. I went to meet him and Shah informed me that an MP from each NDA ally will be inducted into the Modi cabinet as ‘symbolic representation’. We wanted to know how many berth was being given to others and how many people from Bihar are being inducted. But he talked about only symbolic representation. So I told him I will discuss the matter with the JD(U) core team.”
Nitish added that all members of the JD(U) core team refused to accept BJP’s proposal of symbolic representation and favoured “proportional representation” of allies if they join the government.
Responding to a query, Nitish said, “In Bihar cabinet, all allies have been given proportional representation. In Bihar, who is getting what, the number of ministers and name of departments, was discussed and decided prior to formation of the coalition government.”
Nitish added, “Even in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the allies were given proportionate representation. But then, BJP did not have a majority of its own then. It was an NDA government. Today the situation is different. BJP has enough numbers to run the government on its own.”
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