Nitish Kumar says he is contacts with Mallikarjun Kharge

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has admitted that he had a conversation with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge over the phone.

"I have regular interactions with him over the phone. We had an interaction three days ago," he said soon after an Iftar party hosted at his official residence ended in Patna on Friday.

When asked about the point of discussion, especially on Opposition unity, Nitish Kumar said that he will share the details later.

Nitish Kumar, after the formation of Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar, had visited New Delhi and met senior leaders of various political parties, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, D. Raja, Sitaram Yechury, Akhilesh Yadav, and Arvind Kejriwal.

During the CPI-ML convention in Patna last month, Nitish Kumar told Congress senior leader Salman Khurshid to convey his message to the Congress top leadership for the opposition unity. In reply to Kumar, Salman Khurshid on that occasion had said that "they are standing on the one side and waiting for who is saying I Love You first".

Reacting on the development, Jitan Ram Manjhi said: "If any such development has taken place, it is a good indication for the Opposition unity. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar always said that opposition unity without Congress party cannot be possible."

When asked why BJP boycotted the Iftar party, Nitish Kumar said: "When they (BJP) were sharing the power with us in Bihar, every leader of the BJP used to attend the Iftar party at my residence. What happened now? As they are out of power, they used to say many things against me without any reason."

Nitish Kumar held an Iftar party at his official residence in Patna on Friday, where he invited leaders of every party. However, the BJP decided to stay away from Nitish Kumar's Iftar party. Samrat Chaudhary, the state president of the BJP claimed that Nitish Kumar government "failed to prevent communal violence in Sasaram and Bihar Sharif and he was doing the Iftar party. Nitish Kumar is doing the politics of appeasement". [IANS/JS]