Bihar CM Nitish Kumar denies meeting BJP chief Amit Shah

Nitish Kumar said reports in a section of the media in this regard are "either planted or the imagination of someone".

Patna, Nov 26: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday denied meeting Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah and his alleged efforts to get close to the party. He said reports in a section of the media in this regard are “either planted or the imagination of someone”. “There is no truth in reports that I am trying to get close to the BJP. It (report) is also baseless that I met Amit Shah,” Nitish Kumar, who is also President of the ruling Janata Dal-United in Bihar, told the media here.

JD-U is part of the Grand Alliance along with the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Yadav and the Congress in the state.  Talk of Nitish Kumar’s political move towards the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP gained currency after he supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November 8 demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency. “My support to this (demonetisation) has nothing to with politics,” the Chief Minister said. Nitish Kumar has urged Modi to act against people holding ‘benami’ (held by proxy) properties.

“After demonetisation, the central government should take action against ‘benami’ properties,” he said. He is probably the only top leader in the opposition who has openly backed Modi on demonetisation. Nitish Kumar has also appealed to the Prime Minister to impose prohibition across India.  He said a total ban on liquor in Bihar is a positive step taken by his government, which led to improvement in public health and drastic fall in crime rate, particularly domestic violence, in the state.