Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, firmly ruled himself out as a Prime Ministerial candidate in 2019 today, saying he had “neither any aspiration nor the ability”. He also appeared to direct a compliment at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with whom he has a blow-hot-blow-cold relationship.
“The person in whom people will see potential will become the Prime Minister. People saw potential in Narendra Modi during the last elections, he has become the PM,” Mr Kumar said. But he also commented that five years before that, PM Modi, who was Gujarat Chief Minister, was not even “in the frame” to become the PM.
When asked on the possibility of him leading a non-BJP alternative, Mr Kumar declared, “I neither have any aspiration nor the ability to become PM.”
Nitish Kumar’s name has been swirling in opposition circles as a possible candidate for the top job amid moves to engineer a coalition of non-BJP parties. But today, he emphatically backed out, saying, “I am not a fool”.
He said he was being “unnecessarily targeted” with such talk. “We are a small party. If I become the national president of my party, it does not mean that I harbour national aspirations,” he said.
