Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said on Monday that incumbent Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar was ‘reluctant’ to continue in the designation after the
recent assembly elections in the state, PTI reported.

Modi, having served as Kumar’s deputy for more than a decade and known
for having an instrumental understanding with his former superior, stated the aforementioned
in response to the JD(U)’s address of the topic the previous day, wherein
the party’s national executive meeting, Kumar left the designation of the party
President.

Also read: Nitish Kumar’s close confidante RCP Singh made JD(U) Chief: Sources

Later on during the meeting, the party’s spokesperson K C Tyagi
reportedly expressed unhappiness over repeated references to Kumar continuing
as CM and highlighted that the latter had wished for BJP to have its own Chief Minister
on account of having numerical majority.

Also read: BJP’s ‘failure to manage small parties’ resulted in Vajpayee government’s defeat: Shakti Sinha

“It is true that Nitish Kumar had shown reluctance to continue as
chief minister after the assembly polls and said the BJP should stake claim for
the top post,” PTI quoted Modi as saying, who further claimed that Kumar
agreed to continue in the post only when other stakeholders in the NDA such as
BJP, HAM, and VIP reminded him that the votes were sought from the people in
his name.

The BJP secured 74 seats in the assembly elections in Bihar, while
JD(U), having fought in more number of seats than BJP, got 43 as it faced the wrath
of LJP Supremo Chirag Paswan who vowed to bring an end to Kumar’s stint as
Chief Minister and gradually being successful in fielding BJP runaways as Lok
Janashakti Party (LJP) candidates.