Published 07:40 IST, October 7th 2019
Sushil Kumar Modi congratulates Nitish for re-election as JD(U) Chief
BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi extended compliments to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar as he was re-elected unopposed as the president of the JD(U) for a term of three years
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushil Kumar Modi extended compliments to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as he was re-elected unopposed as the President of the Janata Dal (United) for a term of three years on October 6. Sushil Kumar took to Twitter to praise Nitish Kumar. He exclaimed that Kumar has given new heights to justice with development in Bihar.
Sushil Kumar in his tweet said, "Congratulations to Nitish Kumar for being elected National President of NDA ally Janata Dal-United. He has given new heights to justice with development in Bihar and turned challenges of disaster into opportunities to serve the people. Nitish-Ji being elected to the top spot of the party will strengthen the NDA".
Nitish Kumar was the only candidate from his party who filed the nomination for this post. The deadline in this regard was October 5. His certificate of re-election was officially handed over at the party office in New Delhi to Kumar’s representative Sanjay Kumar Singh, who is a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) in Bihar.
Cabinet colleague congratulates Bihar CM
According to the national election officer of the JD(U), Anil Hegde, the notification for the election to the President’s post was issued on September 27. As there was no other party member who filed his nomination, Hegde declared Kumar’s victory.
He declared, “On September 27, a notification was issued for the election to the post of JDU party president. As to date, only Nitish Kumar has filed nominations and October 5 being the day for scrutiny and him being the only candidate for the post, therefore, I announced his election unopposed.”
No opposition despite flood havoc
The intriguing thing is that Jha’s praise comes at a juncture when at least 73 people have died in flood-related incidents in Bihar for the last few weeks. The capital city of Patna has been flooded, completely disrupting the day-to-day life of people. What has conflated the situation is the fact that the Bihar CM has refused to take any tough questions on his government’s inept handling of the floods.
Instead, he has directed his aggression towards the media. For instance, Republic’s reporters have been manhandled and barred from covering events, where Kumar has been scheduled to speak. Leaders of its own coalition partner BJP including Union Minister Giriraj Singh and Ram Kripal Yadav have come down heavily on the Bihar CM. Thus, the absence of any opposition to Kumar internally can be perceived as a sign of sheer apathy on the part of Bihar’s principal ruling party.
Updated 08:38 IST, October 7th 2019