Patna: Bihar was abuzz with speculation on Wednesday that Janata Dal-United president and the state’s longest-serving Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may move to the Rajya Sabha, paving the way for the Bharatiya Janata Party to take the top post while accommodating his son Nishant as deputy CM.
Sources from the JD-U stated that the veteran leader might transition to the Rajya Sabha, days after the Election Commission announced the polls for the upper house.
This comes amid a meeting that was held at the Bihar Chief Minister’s residence in Patna between Kumar, JD-U national working president Sanjay Jha, and Bihar minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary.
However, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh dismissed the rumour as a ‘Holi prank’, asserting ‘Nitish Kumar ji is the chief minister’.
The filing of nomination papers for five Rajya Sabha seats in the state will close on Thursday.
While the BJP has named its two candidates, including national general secretary Nitin Nabin, and confirmed a second consecutive term for junior National Democratic Alliance ally Upendra Kushwaha, the JD-U is yet to officially announce its nominees.
The rumours of Kumar, who turned 75 earlier this month, being one of the candidates of JD-U, surfaced a day after the party had announced that his son Nishant would be making a belated entry into politics.
