Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the tenure of Nitish Kumar as the CM will be remembered as a golden period for Bihar.
“The Bihar CM will once again enter the national politics as a Rajya Sabha member after a very long time. From 2005 till today, Nitish Kumar ji has been the CM of Bihar. His tenure has been very successful and will be a golden page in the history of Bihar. Perhaps no other politician has done what Nitish Kumar ji has achieved. He brought Bihar out of the jungle raj, worked to give momentum to all aspects of development. He connected roads to the villages. He has made a great contribution in making electricity supply available to every house in Bihar,” the Union home minister said.
He added it’s rare to keep one’s kurta without a stain despite being the CM for two decades and having a political career since the JP movement in Bihar in 1974. “A long political journey without being accused of corruption throughout his life,” Shah said after accompanying Nitish and BJP national president Nitin Nabin, who along with RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha, Ram Nath Thakur and Shivesh Kumar filed their nomination papers as the NDA candidates for the five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar, falling vacant on April 9.
“Nitish ji has always been a proponent of simplicity, purity and the highest values in public life. The people of Bihar will always remember and respect him and his tenure as the chief minister. I welcome Nitin Nabin ji and Nitish Kumar ji to the Rajya Sabha,” Shah said in a statement.
Nitish, who is also the JD(U) national president, filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha election scheduled on March 16, ending speculations about his continuation as the Bihar CM. The BJP is likely to have its own CM in Bihar for the first time this month. It was also for the first time when national presidents of three political parties filed their nomination papers together as the NDA candidates for the Rajya Sabha seats.
Shah, who was welcomed at Patna airport by top BJP state leaders and Union minister and former JD(U) chief Rajiv Ranjan Singh aka Lalan Singh, said that Nitish has never been tainted during his long tenure as an MLA, MP, Union minister and the chief minister. “Nitish has made a significant contribution towards taking Bihar forward in every way and implemented all the schemes and funds sent for Bihar by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last 11 years,” he said.
On reaching Patna, Shah, along with Nabin, met Nitish at his official CM residence before heading together to Vidhan Sabha premises where the NDA candidates filed their papers for the Rajya Sabha seats in the afternoon.
Whether Nitish will hold any major position at the Centre was not clear as Shah did not make a statement in this regard.
On the nomination of Nitin, who is also the five times MLA from Patna’s Bankipur, Shah said all NDA members and crores of BJP workers welcome him to the national politics and Parliament.
