Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar landed in Delhi on Saturday to attend a dinner hosted by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi for outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee. He is also supposed to meet Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.
The conversation between Nitish Kumar and Rahul Gandhi comes at a time their coalition in Bihar, the Mahagatbandhan, is in serious trouble amid corruption charges against partner Lalu Yadav and his family, including son Tejashwi who is deputy chief minister.
Nitish Kumar, who will attend PM Modi’s dinner as the president of his party Janata Dal (United), had earlier confirmed that he will attend President-elect Ram Nath Kovind’s oath ceremony on Tuesday in a separate trip to the national capital and will also pack in a long overdue meeting with Rahul Gandhi. It seems that Nitish Kumar is having a hard time in scheduling their meeting.
Allies Nitish Kumar and the Congress are also trying to bridge the gap that busted out after they decided to back competing candidates for the post of President. Kumar, going against the united opposition’s stand, chose to support the BJP’s choice, Kovind, who was the governor of Bihar. Kumar had asserted that his support for Kovind was based only on the 71-year-old leader’s credentials and his impeccable neutrality during his tenure as Bihar governor.
The meeting between Congress vice president and Bihar CM can be an attempt to resolve the disputes and build new strategies. Earlier Kumar had held a closed-door meeting with Tejaswi Yadav after the latter did not share the stage with the CM in a public function.
