CM Nitish's TN trip cancelled due to health issues: JD-U

Patna, June 20 (IANS) Bihar Finance Minister and JD-U leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary on Tuesday clarified that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's health issues did not allow him to travel to Tamil Nadu after he cancelled his trip at the last moment.

"Anyone can fall ill. Health of the Chief Minister is not good. Due to health problems, he had to cancel his Tamil Nadu trip. He has also talked to his counterpart in Tamil Nadu about the illness," Chaudhary said.

On Tuesday, Nitish Kumar cancelled his Tamil Nadu trip at the last moment when Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav reached the airport and waited for Chief Minister for half an hour. At the last minute, Nitish Kumar sent his trusted leader of his kitchen cabinet Sanjay Kumar Jha along with Tejashwi Yadav to Chennai.

Meanwhile, the BJP has sharply reacted to the last minute cancellation. BJP Bihar Spokesperson Arvind Kumar Singh said: "I don't know the actual health status of CM Nitish Kumar but the way he has cancelled the trip at the last minute, it looks like, CM MK Stalin may not be interested in participating in opposition party meet in Patna. Now, one leader is out of prime minister post race. The opposition unity will disarray till the Lok Sabha election."

National General Secretary of BJP OBC Wing Nikhil Anand said: "Timing of CM Nitishji's sudden illness raises serious doubts. The Congress must have warned him on his political over adventurism in the name of opposition unity. That is why JDU's National President Lalan Singh has publicly warned party workers not to raise the slogan of Nitish becoming PM otherwise it will be a setback to opposition unity."

"Nitish ji is well known for fake illness or busy schedule and on many occasions, whenever, he has to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji or our Home Minister Amit Shah ji in the meetings of national or state interest he makes the same excuses. This is one of the political styles of Nitish ji. No one can predict his next move. He can even surprise his friends. Despite his several U-turns and lost political credibility, he continues to be CM either by sitting on BJP shoulders or in the lap of RJD. More than his political rivals, his political friends must be worried about his unpredictable moves," Anand said.

"Nitish Kumar is basically trapped between Congress, RJD and some other constituents of the so called grand alliance. The sheer political desperation and nervousness of CM Nitish ji is clearly visible from what he is saying and doing these days. How can a person sitting in the lap of RJD Supremo Lalu Prasad daydream of becoming PM. The opposition unity is simply an attempt to check the weight of so many frogs on a weighing scale," Anand said.