Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a prominent member of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), was notably absent from Saturday’s NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. The reason for Kumar’s absence was not immediately clear, but Bihar was represented by its BJP deputy chief ministers, Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha.
A JD(U) spokesperson noted that this was not the first instance of Kumar missing a NITI Aayog meeting. “The CM did not attend the meeting earlier as well and Bihar was represented by the then deputy CM. This time also, the two deputies went for the meeting. Besides, there are four members from the state who are members of the Aayog and they were present,” said party spokesperson Neeraj Kumar.
The JD(U), with 12 Lok Sabha seats, and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu with 16 seats, are crucial allies for the BJP. In the recent general elections, the BJP secured 240 out of 543 Lok Sabha seats, falling short of a majority and relying on support from parties like JD(U) and TDP to maintain power.
Nitish Kumar, known for his frequent political realignments, recently rejoined the BJP-led alliance in January after previously leaving it in August 2022. TDP chief Naidu, however, attended the NITI Aayog meeting.
Chief ministers from states governed by the Congress-led opposition INDIA bloc boycotted the conference, accusing the NDA government of neglecting non-NDA states and favoring Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in the Union Budget presented on July 23. West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, the sole INDIA bloc CM present, left the event early, claiming that she was only allowed to speak for five minutes, unlike her counterparts from other states.