Two senior leaders of Bihar's ruling Janata Dal United have yet again reassured the party's supporters that Nitish Kumar would remain Chief Minister and the face of the National Democratic Alliance in the state amid demands by some BJP MLAs that he should step down and there be a BJP Chief Minister.
The reassurances come amid recent buzz over Mr Kumar's possible candidature for presidential elections and speculation that he is eyeing a stint in Rajya Sabha.
"Nitish Kumar ji is the Chief Minister of Bihar on the strength of people's support, not by the grace of someone else," JDU national chief Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh said at an event in Patna today.
"The people of Bihar are with him. What not he has done? He has given 50 per cent reservation to women in panchayats... Every political party talks about helping the most backward sections, but just before elections they look at Nitish Kumar and see what he is doing, and then they copy him," Mr Singh said.
Mr Kumar became Chief Minister for a fourth term in November 2020, despite his JDU delivering a dismal performance by wining 43 seats compared to the unprecedented 74 seats of the BJP, which became the big brother in the alliance.
JDU National Parliamentary Board chief Upendra Kushwaha also reminded party supporters of "two non-negotiable conditions" of the party, on which the alliance in Bihar rests.
"We cannot compromise on two things. First, the Chief Minister of Bihar is Nitish Kumar and he will remain Chief Minister. This is non-negotiable. Second, the values that our party follows will remain non-negotiable. We will never compromise on it," Mr Kushwaha said.
Mr Kushwaha on April 1 denied the buzz that the Chief Minister is eyeing a Rajya Sabha stint. The speculation, Mr Kushwaha had said, "is mischievous and far from truth."
"He (Nitish Kumar) is not going anywhere," the JDU leader had tweeted. Today's reassurance was seen a reminder that the party has already cleared the air over this buzz.
On the demand for caste census, Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh said the JDU will not back down. "Caste census is a need of the time. It is needed for better programmes, development work and justice for the people...It will benefit everyone and won't harm anyone," he said.
Political observers say the remarks by Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh and Mr Kushwaha confirm that the JDU is trying to dispel the notion that Nitish Kumar is the chief minister due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also a sign of nervousness with the BJP being the number one party in the legislative assembly.
On JDU Leaders' Special Status For Bihar Demand, Union Minister Says... JDU Will Strongly Push For Special Status For Bihar: Nitish Kumar's Aide "Will Touch Your Feet...": Nitish Kumar Raps Official Over Pending Road Work Bangladesh Imposes Curfew, Deploys Military As 105 Die In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 105 Bangladeshis Killed In Protests Joe Biden Is The Best Person To Take On Trump, Says His Campaign Wife Among Two Jailed For Life For Man's Murder In Gurugram: Cops 1,100 Flights Cancelled In US As Microsoft Outage Disrupts Operations Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.