BJP lawmaker Shatrughan Sinha
BJP lawmaker Shatrughan Sinha today said he received an invitation from Nitish Kumar for his oath-taking ceremony tomorrow but would not be able to attend the function due to "important personal engagements."
Mr Kumar will take oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar tommorow, for the third straight term.
"I conveyed my inability to come for the function to my friend," Mr Sinha, the BJP Lok Sabha member from Patna Sahib, said from temple city of Puri in Odisha.
The actor-turned-BJP leader is visiting Lord Jagannath temple along with wife Poonam Sinha.
About the BJP's performance in the Bihar polls, Mr Sinha quipped, "I will pray to Lord Jagannath that good sense prevails on my party to overcome the shortcomings exposed during Bihar elections."
Mr Sinha appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for accepting Nitish Kumar's invitation and deputing Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu along with some ministers to represent the union government at the oath taking ceremony.
State BJP Vice President Sanjay Mayukh said Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Rajiv Pratap Rudy would accompany Mr Naidu to the ceremony at the Gandhi Maidan tomorrow.
Speculation was rife whether Shatrughan Sinha popularly known as
'Bihari Babu' would attend the oath taking ceremony of rival Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress coalition government.