Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said RCP Singh, whom his JD(U) has denied another term in the Rajya Sabha, does not need to resign as Union minister ahead of the expiry of his tenure. Kumar, who is the JD(U)'s de facto leader, was talking to reporters at the Vidhan Sabha in presence of a large number of leaders of the NDA who gathered to witness filing of nomination papers by candidates of the ruling coalition.
The JD(U) has fielded its Jharkhand unit chief Kheeru Mahto while the BJP has considered Satish Chandra Dubey for a second consecutive term besides giving ticket to its Bihar unit secretary Shambhu Sharan Patel. The chief minister asserted that Mahto's candidature has caused no bitterness with RCP Singh, who "has always been given many important responsibilities, including two consecutive Parliament terms. He has been getting recognition since the days he was an IAS officer".
The Union minister, who had last year succeeded Kumar as the party's national president, was however conspicuous by his absence on the Vidhan Sabha premises. Kumar was also asked about the statement given by Singh earlier in the day that he will seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi's advice as to whether he should resign as Union minister since he will not be able to continue for more than six months once he ceased to be a member of Parliament.
"His tenure in Parliament is far from over. The elections are being held before time. There is no need to think of resignation right now", the chief minister remarked cryptically. Singh's Rajya Sabha tenure will end in July this year.
Kumar, however, dodged queries about future prospects of Singh as also of JD(U) which may be left with no representation at the Centre. "These things will be thought about at a later stage", he remarked.
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