CM Nitish discusses Bihar development issues, Rajya Sabha polls with PM Modi in Delhi
This was his first visit of Nitish Kumar to Delhi after being sworn in for a record 10th time as CM a month ago following an unprecedented mandate in assembly elections.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on December 22, just over a month after the NDA’s landslide victory in the state assembly elections.
Bihar leaders also met Union Home Minister Amit Shah separately at his residence in New Delhi.
According to sources, the focus of the discussion was development related issues in Bihar and upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. Bihar is scheduled to hold elections for 5 Rajya Sabha seats in April.
“The Chief Minister of Bihar, Shri Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Shri Samrat Choudhary and Union Minister, Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh met the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in New Delhi today,” the Prime Minister’s Office posted said in a post on X.
This was his first visit of Nitish Kumar to Delhi after being sworn in for a record 10th time as CM a month ago following an unprecedented mandate in assembly elections. He was accompanied by deputy CM Samrat Choudhary and Union minister and close aide Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh. Three of them travelled in the same car.
The meeting with the PM lasted for about 30 minutes and the meeting with Shah was for around 20 minutes. The CM returned to Patna in the evening.
Though the meetings were termed as courtesy visits by Kumar, senior leaders in the JD(U) said that the roadmap for Bihar’s development, the per-election promises and expectations of the people would require coordinated approach of the Centre and the state government to deliver.
Besides, there are various other issues like Rajya Sabha election, in which all five seats from Bihar are likely to go to the NDA, Legislative Council election and cabinet expansion, which are also likely to have found place in the discussion.
“Even courtesy visits revolve around important state-centric issues. After the big mandate in election, Bihar government has started working in that direction, but the state would require Centre’s continued support. The PM is also committed for Bihar’s next stage of development with industrialisation and investment and that gives added significance to meeting,” said a senior JD(U) leader.
The Bihar government earlier this month also rolled out the third edition of the 7-Resolves programme to give Bihar the development push with a clear roadmap, but implementing them in ground would require a lot of cooperation from the Centre as they would have big financial implications.
There have also been major changes in the BJP, both at the Central as well as state organisational level, that also points to party’s focus on the state. Former minister Nitin Nabin is now the BJP national working president, while Sanjay Saraogi has been given the party’s reins in the state.
Nabin is also set to visit Bihar on Tuesday — first time since stepping into the national role.
The JD(U) leader said that both PM and CM were aware of the weight of the huge mandate the people of Bihar have given and the Centre’s big financial support required to give a major push to the resource-starved state’s next phase of development to tackle the twin issues of unemployment and migration through industrialisation.
“This was the first meeting of the CM with PM and home minister, but more such meetings will take place in the months to come for the cause of Bihar,” said the JD(U) leader.
