JOIN USA day after skipping a luncheon hosted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had lunch with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.
The JD(U) chief, however, dismissed suggestions of any political significance of his choice. Kumar decided against attending the Friday’s Opposition meet but chose to attend the lunch hosted by Modi in honour of the visiting Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind K Jugnauth.
The chief minister’s choice evoked interest as there was increased speculation that Kumar was moving farther from the Opposition. Kumar said, “Too much is being read into” the meeting, which was just a usual interaction between the prime minister and a chief minister.”
“I did not meet him in the capacity of the JD(U) chief but as the state chief minister. It was not a political meeting. Why is the media reading too much into it?” he said.
Kumar also said he had met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in April and it was already decided that former JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav would attend the lunch hosted by her. The meeting was touted as the coming together of Opposition parties to take on the BJP.
“I had already met Sonia on April 20, she invited me and we discussed about the presidential polls,” he said.
Kumar sought to explain his presence at the lunch, saying, “Bihar has an emotional connect with Mauritius as half of the population there is of Bihari origin. PM had invited me for the luncheon as the state CM and I decided to accept it.”
Some Opposition leaders felt that the “messaging of skipping one and attending another was wrong,” though they did not feel that Kumar is jumping the ship.