President? No, Thanks, Says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar As He Rules Himself Out of the Race

Ahead of the Presidential elections in July, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday put all speculations of his possible candidature to rest, saying that he is not in the race. Kumar’s name for the country’s topmost constitutional post was earlier mooted by his party JD(U). But talking to reporters on Monday, Kumar categorically said, “I am not in the race to become the country’s next president, nor am I going anywhere. Such reports are unfounded and are mere speculations.”

The remarks came as the CM was replying to media queries on the sidelines of his weekly public outreach programme when he was asked to react to Bihar Rural Development Minister Shrawan Kumar’s comment on his being a worthy candidate for the post.

After the EC’s announcement of the schedule for the elections last week, senior JD(U) leader Shrawan Kumar had said that Nitish Kumar is a worthy candidate for the top job and has all the abilities required for being the country’s President. “Being a Bihari, I wish that Nitish Kumar will become president of India”, he had said, adding that “every person would want him to become the president of the country”.

Kumar’s name for the President’s post also found resonance with Maharashtra leader Nawab Malik in February this year who had said that his party NCP, headed by Sharad Pawar, was ready to support the JD(U) leader if he cut off ties with ally BJP.

Nitish Kumar’s remark comes two days ahead of the big, fat Opposition meeting in Delhi, called by West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, to arrive at a consensus on the face of the Presidential election.

The 22 leaders that Banerjee reached out to for the meeting are Arvind Kejriwal, Pinarayi Vijayan, Naveen Patnaik, Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao, MK Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray, Hemant Soren, Bhagwant Mann, Sonia Gandhi, Lalu Prasad Yadav, D Raja, Sitaram Yechury, Akhilesh Yadav, Sharad Pawar, Jayant Chaudhary, HD Kumaraswamy, HD Deve Gowda, Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Pawan Chamling and KM Kader Mohideen.

The BJP has, meanwhile, entrusted party national president JP Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with the task to hold discussions with NDA allies and the opposition to choose a candidate who will get support cutting across party lines.

The 16th Presidental elections will be held on July 18 and the counting will be taken up on July 21.

(With PTI inputs)

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