Will decide next course of action depending on Nitish Kumar's reply: Pavan Varma

JD(U) general secretary Pavan Varma on Thursday said he will decide his next course of action depending on the reply from party president Nitish Kumar to his letter and asserted that he will continue to speak "what he believes is for the good of the country and the party".

Varma's comments came after Kumar, who is the chief minister of Bihar, snubbed him saying he is free to go wherever he wants and slammed him for raising his concerns over the party's stand on a host of citizenship measures of the Modi government.

"I have not received a reply. Depending on the reply from the party president or its absence I will decide on my course of action. I will continue to speak what I believe is right, what is for the good of the country and the party," the former Rajya Sabha member said.

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The former diplomat has drifted from the JD(U) over its support to the amended citizenship law and the national population register exercise, as he has often claimed that these measures along with the national citizenship register, which is on the BJP's agenda, are divisive for the country.

In a recent letter that he had posted on social media, Varma had sought ideological clarity from Kumar after the party entered into an alliance with the BJP in the Delhi Assembly polls.

"He is a learned man for whom I have a lot of respect even if he may not have similar sentiments for me. But is it proper to share such things in public and not on a party forum," Kumar had said earlier while speaking to reporters.

Varma said this is precisely what he had sought and added that he had great respect for Kumar. He is grateful to Kumar for all that he has done for him, he added.

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