A day after his comment that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is a PM material created a ripple in the political waters, JD (U) general secretary K C Tyagi on Monday sought to downplay it saying it is Narendra Modi who will be the Prime Minister candidate for 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Tyagi's comment in Patna comes a day after he said that 'Nitish Kumar is not a candidate for the post of the prime minister' but that he “certainly is a PM material”. He, however, called for setting up an NDA coordination committee to resolve various issues.
"Nitish Kumar is not a candidate for the post of the prime minister. The JD(U) is the most trusted member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the leader of the alliance. But he (Kumar) certainly is a PM material," JD(U) general secretary had said after the party's national council meeting in Patna.
Kumar, who had parted company with the NDA in 2017, has been in the past seen as a potential Prime Ministerial candidate by some leaders in opposition and the JD (U).
“We are in the NDA and firmly support the alliance. The party would welcome setting up of an NDA coordination committee to resolve various issues. During the period of Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, several works were done after setting up the coordination committee.
"We will be happy if a similar coordination committee is formed again at the central and state levels for smooth functioning of the government and to put a stop to unwarranted comments made by leaders of alliance partners,” Tyagi said.
Tyagi announced that JD(U) will contest the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur in 2022. On possibility of forming an alliance with the BJP, the JD(U) leader said we will try to tie-up but if it does not materialise we will contest the polls independently.
"Our priority will be to form an alliance with the BJP (for the polls). If that does not happen, we will contest independently," the senior JD(U) leader said.
Recently, JD (U) has demanded that the Modi-government expedite announcement for Caste-based census that may help regional parties with a dominant focus on caste politics like itself. Eom
