Mr Pradhan's visit to Patna caught everyone in the Bihar BJP off guard
Patna: In a closed-door meeting at Nitish Kumar's residence in Patna, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan last evening assured the Bihar Chief Minister that he will stay the full term.
Sources say that the Union minister spoke to Nitish Kumar for over 90 minutes and assured him of stern action against the BJP leaders for their recent statements against him.
In a bid to pacify the Chief Minister, Mr Pradhan reportedly told Mr Kumar that he will coordinate with him on behalf of the central leadership of the BJP from now onwards, a role earlier played by former Union Minister Arun Jaitley.
Mr Pradhan's visit to Patna caught everyone in the Bihar BJP off guard, including state party President, Sanjay Jaiswal who rushed to Patna and met him this morning.
Nitish Kumar was reportedly upset with the Bihar party leaders for going public against him and suggesting that he should be removed and replaced as the Chief Minister.
Mr Kumar had earlier accused Bihar In-Charge of BJP Bhupendra Yadav of conspiring against him and pitching Nityanand Rai as the new Chief Ministerial face.
The visit came after Nitish Kumar decided to skip a meeting of Chief Ministers called by the Union Law Ministry in Delhi last week, which was read as a sign that he was upset over the recent developments.
Last month, the Chief Minister also attended an Iftar party organised by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav. His presence at the Iftar feast led to speculations about the changing political equations.
The BJP sources say that Mr Pradhan was chosen by the BJP high command for the Bihar visit as he shared a good rapport with Nitish Kumar as the party state in-charge between 2009-2014.