Arvind Kejriwal changes stand, says Nitish good person, people should vote him as CM

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party Chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday morning made a sharp change in his statement, this time asking people to vote for Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister.

"Some media houses distorting my statement. I fully support Nitish Kumar. He is a good person. People shud vote him CM (sic)," Kejriwal tweeted to clarify his stand about Kumar. The Delhi Chief Minister was apparently forced to state his position after reports in some television channels suggested a U turn on the issue of supporting Nitish Kumar in the ongoing Bihar assembly election campaign.

Some media houses distorting my statement. I fully support Nitish kumar. He is a good person. People shud vote him CM

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 1, 2015

The reports were based on his statements at a management association's event where, on being asked who he was supporting in Bihar elections, Kejriwal had said, " I am not supporting anyone in Bihar. I had not gone there for campaigning. There was a governance workshop organised by the Bihar CM before polls were announced, and that's it."

This statement appeared contradictory from his previous month long engagements in full public glare, endorsing Nitish in Delhi as well as Patna. AAP's spokesperson Raghav Chadha, also a Kejriwal confidante and key figure in the Delhi Chief Minister's interactions with other CMs, spoke with ET to explain why Kejriwal said what he did at the management group's event. "The comments were in response to a specific question about whether or not we are supporting anyone. If the question had been about what he thought about Nitish Kumar as Bihar CM, the answers would have been different. Nothing more should be read into it," he said.

Clearly, with the Bihar election campaign heating up, Kejriwal does not want to be seen as indirectly and unintentionally helping the BJP. With his tweet, Kejriwal has even gone one step further by reneging on his claim of yesterday evening and even seeking a vote for Kumar as Chief Minister.