"Nitish Kumar is going to become the convener by blackmailing."
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sushil Kumar Modi took a jibe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying that he left the NDA thinking that the INDIA bloc would make him the prime ministerial candidate but he has been offered a "jhunjhuna" of a convenor which is actually a "Munshi-type role" in the bloc.
"Nitish Kumar is going to become the convener by blackmailing. He expected that he would become the prime ministerial candidate. That is why he separated from the NDA that INDIA will make him the PM candidate, but he was given a jhunjhuna. The work of the coordinator is the work of a 'Munshi', giving information by phone and calling meetings. Who is going to question Nitish Kumar?" he said.
He further added that, being a convener, can Nitish Kumar bring a consensus among the leaders of Opposition parties including the SP's Akhilesh Yadav and Congress in Uttar Pradesh on the seat-sharing issues.
Sushil Modi questioned the capability of Nitish Kumar, asking," Whether he (Nitish), who is the leader of 44 MLAs can build consensus between CPM and Mamata Banerjee, who has 215 MLAs in Bengal? Can he build a consensus between Akhilesh Yadav and Congress in UP? So he got his chance."
"For the last one month, he was threatening the alliance (INDIA) that if they did not give him any position, he would go with BJP. We had also closed our doors. If he is happy with this now, then let him be happy," Sushil Kumar Modi added.
BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain also took a dig at the Bihar CM, saying that nothing will happen even if the alliance makes him the convenor.
"There is a conflict between JDU and RJD in Bihar, RJD and JDU are in conflict with Congress. A big dream was given to Nitish Kumar ji that if you leave BJP, you will be made Prime Ministerial face of the opposition," Mr Hussain said.
"There is already a lot of controversy about the Prime Minister's face, Mamata ji and Arvind Kejriwal had put forward the name of Kharge Saheb due to which Nitish Kumar was disappointed," he added.
Exuding confidence in winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Mr Hussain said that PM Modi will hit a hat-trick and this time he will cross 400.
"There is discussion on giving Nitish Kumar a consolation prize which is the post of convenor. Everyone knows that the post of Prime Minister has been completely reserved by the public. Narendra Modi ji will remain the Prime Minister of the country as long as he wants and this time he will hit a hat-trick and this time he will cross 400," the BJP leader said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)