Nitish Kumar will be Bihar CM, no question of replacing him: Sushil Modi

Patna: Nitish Kumar will be the next chief minister of Bihar and there is no questioning of replacing him, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi has reiterated, making it clear there is no race for the top job despite the BJP finishing with far more number of seats than ally JD(U).

"There is no confusion on the issue of Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister of Bihar. The decision was taken before the polls and it will remain same," Modi told reporters Wednesday, hours after the Bihar Assembly elections results gave their National Democratic Alliance a narrow majority.

"In alliance, sometimes a partner wins more and the other one is able to secure fewer seats. But we are equal partners, people voted for NDA," ANI quoted him as saying.


The BJP won 74 of Bihar's 243 seats and ended up as the second largest party in the state behind opposition party RJD, while Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United was restricted to a mere 43.

Modi's clarification comes in the backdrop of media speculation that Kumar would think of crossing over to the other side if the BJP made a claim for the chief minister's post

While reacting to a question on Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), chief Chirag Paswan, the BJP leader said he was not a part of their alliance in the state and that he didn't want to comment on him.

On a question regarding Chirag Paswan's status in the Central government, the BJP leader said, "I don't know, I am only concerned with state politics, representatives of Central government can give you an answer on this. But he is surely not a part of Bihar NDA."

Modi slammed senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh over his suggestion to Nitish Kumar for "leaving Bihar and entering national politics."

"Digvijaya Singh's party failed to secure seats in Madhya Pradesh by-polls, and even then he is giving advice to our leader? No one knows Digvijaya Singh in Bihar," he said.