File photo of Nitish Kumar outside the Bihar Assembly
Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar, said his party's political future will be decided after October.
"Any decision on whether to fight the elections alone or reach an electoral understanding with a federal front or third front for the 2014 elections will be taken only after October," the chief minister said, adding that his Janata Dal United or JDU is currently meeting party workers to decide its strategy for the national elections, due by May.
Mr Kumar truncated a 17-year partnership with the BJP in June this year, blaming it for ignoring his repeated warnings against a national role for Narendra Modi, who was chosen as its campaign-in-chief. Mr Kumar predicted that would segue into Mr Modi being named the BJP's presumptive prime minister. Today, the chief minister refused to answer a question on the likelihood of that being announced in the next few days.
Mr Kumar has accused Mr Modi -always without naming him -of not doing enough to stop the communal riots of Gujarat in 2002 in which hundreds of Muslims were killed on his watch as chief minister.
Mr Kumar's split with the BJP meant its ministers were evicted from Mr Kumar's government and triggered daily rounds of invective between the two parties. But today, the chief minister said that the former ministers are welcome to stay in their government houses for as long as they want.
The centre's willingness to entertain Mr Kumar's request for "special status" branding for Bihar has created the impression that a new alliance between him and the Congress could unfold soon.
Mr Kumar wants Bihar to be entitled to massive financial loans and assistance on account of its history of extreme backwardness; the centre is examining his proposal.
When asked his opinion about the Congress selecting its vice-president, Rahul Gandhi, for prime minister, Mr Kumar said, "Where is the need for opinion of a third person in such cases?"