Will never leave NDA again, says Nitish Kumar as he meets PM Narendra Modi

New Delhi, February 7

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Wednesday in what was their first meeting after the Janata Dal (United) president dumped the opposition INDIA bloc and joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) last month and later reiterated that he will not leave it again.

Following his meeting with Modi, Kumar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda and is believed to have discussed a host of governance and political issues related to Bihar.

In brief remarks to reporters later, the JD(U) chief recalled his association with the BJP since 1995, before he broke the ties in 2013, and said he might have left it twice but will never do it now.

“Never now. We will remain here (in the NDA),” he said.

The meetings came five days ahead of Kumar’s government facing a trust vote in the Assembly on February 12.

Kumar had taken the oath with eight ministers, including three each from the BJP and the JD(U), and an expansion of the council of ministers is on the cards.

Both parties have to deal with a number of tricky political issues ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, including the distribution of parliamentary seats for contesting the election among them and their smaller allies.