Nitish Kumar drops hints he may pass on mantle to Tejashwi Yadav

The septuagenarian JD(U) supremo, once again, ruled himself out as a prime ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha polls

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on December 13, 2022 dropped further hints that he was looking forward to passing on the mantle to his young deputy Tejashwi Yadav, leaders emerging from a meeting of legislators of the ruling 'Mahagathbandhan' said.

The septuagenarian JD(U) supremo, once again, ruled himself out as a prime ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha polls even as he maintained that a "united opposition" could defeat the Narendra Modi-led BJP in 2024.

"The Chief Minister pointed towards Tejashwi ji and said he is the leader of the future, under whose leadership the 2025 assembly polls in the state would be fought," said Mahboob Alam, the legislature party leader of the CPI(ML) Liberation which supports the government from outside.

He also said "we are of the view that it will benefit the grand alliance which is fighting the communal forces represented by the BJP. Tejashwi ji is a young and energetic leader".

Notably, Mr. Yadav, the younger son of RJD's founding president Lalu Prasad, had steered the 'Mahagathbandhan', which then did not have the chief minister on its side, to an impressive electoral performance in 2020 assembly polls in which the NDA could barely scrape through.

After dumping the BJP in August this year, Mr. Kumar, whose love-hate relationship with Lalu Prasad is the stuff of legend, had been asserting that he was done with the long association that he has had with the saffron party.

"The chief minister has been saying, for quite a while, that the future belongs to Tejashwi ji and youngsters like him. He had said so yesterday in Nalanda where I, too, was present. He said it again today," said Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, one of the closest aides of Kumar, who also holds key portfolios in the State cabinet.