West Bengal CM and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav during the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) meeting.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday lost his cool during the I.N.D.I.A bloc meeting after DMK leaders sought a translation of his remarks, leaving other leaders shocked.
Sources said Nitish was enraged after DMK leaders sought a translation of what he was saying in the meeting. DMK supremo M K Stalin and T R Baalu were present in the meeting and RJD’s Manoj K Jha started translating Nitish following the request.
Nitish, according to sources, told Jha not to do so and then went ahead with his remarks.
He told the DMK leaders that they should learn Hindi, which is the national language, and went on to say that the country has thrown the Britishers away long back and one should also shun the colonial remnants.
He did not allow his remarks to be translated and went on to say, “I am not for any post though some people are spreading such canards.”
Some Opposition leaders said Nitish was “angry at something” and was not seen as comfortable in the meeting. His party JD(U) has been insisting that he has all the qualities to be the Prime Ministerial face of the I.N.D.I.A bloc though there are other claimants too.
Nitish, who added fuel to speculation about his unease by skipping the joint press conference after the meeting, is also speculated to be keen on becoming the Convenor of the I.N.D.I.A bloc.
His close aides claim that he initiated the first move for bringing Opposition parties together by first holding a meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in April and then hosting the first meeting of the bloc in Patna in May this year.