Will not switch sides any more, says Nitish Kumar in PM Modi’s presence

Patna: With barely a fortnight left before the Election Commission announces the poll schedule in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his ninth visit to the election-bound State this year and launched projects worth Rs 36,000 crore.

This was also Modi’s 55th visit to Bihar as the Prime Minister, the highest by any PM so far, where he launched projects in the field of Civil Aviation, Health and Energy, including inauguration of the newly-constructed Purnea airport.

Modi, who has stoutly refrained from naming Nitish Kumar as the next Chief Minister of Bihar if in case the NDA returns to power, today saw Nitish pledging his unwavering loyalty towards the Prime Minister.

“The mistakes I committed earlier by switching sides were blunders. But I assure you Modi ji that I won’t jump the ship any more,” said Nitish, with his hands folded as a mark of respect towards Modi.

But this pledge of loyalty did not persuade Modi to declare Nitish the NDA chief ministerial face for the 2025 Assembly polls although he praised the Bihar CM for putting the State on the fast track of development.

“The double engine NDA government has ensured rapid growth of Bihar. I am sure the Congress leader (in an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi) may not have heard of the term Makhana (fox nut) before I set up the Makhana Board this year,” said Modi while addressing the gathering in Purnea.

Notably, Rahul, during his ‘Voters’ Adhikar Yatra’ recently, had made a brief stopover to learn the basics from Makhana farmers, the video of which went viral very fast.

“My focus is also on the Demography Mission. All those who have come and settled here illegally from Bangladesh or Nepal will have to leave this country as we cannot allow illegal immigrants to live here and snatch the jobs which are actually meant for the locals,” said Modi as the crowd cheered for him.

“Purnea airport is the fourth aerodrome in Bihar, besides Patna, Gaya and Darbhanga, from where flights will take off to different States, thereby increasing the connectivity,” said Modi, reiterating that Bihar’s rapid progress is a must if India has to grow at a considerable pace.

Union Ministers Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi, the two warring NDA allies, were also present on the occasion and surprisingly showed no signs of bitterness in the name of seat-sharing.