JUNE 18- Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for calling him a secular leader.
The Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader said that the prime minister only reaffirmed what he was. Singh had on Monday tweeted that he considered Kumar to be a secular leader.
A day after the prime minister warmed up to the JD-U, which dumped its 17-year-old ally BJP, the Bihar leader said, “The prime minister told me secular so am I. Truth must be spoken. I thank him for this statement.”
Kumar, however, said, “There are no indications in it. Country’s political situation is specified.”
Justifying the party’s decision to walk out of the NDA, he said, “We had no alternative than this decision. We have been saying it that our alliance was tactic which was in the favour of the state. This is all about future. No one knows the future. We have decided a way and we will go on further on this way.”
“Secular people have been given an answer in favour of by me. Political questions will be answered politically. Every one knows the condition,” he added.
During a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the prime minister had said, “I cannot speculate on that or what happens in the future. We need support of all right-minded parties. In Parliament, we look for their (JD-U’s) support.”
INDIA TODAY
