Bharatiya Janata Party ally Janata Dal (United), will not join the new Narendra Modi government, its spokesperson Pavan Varma said , in what appears to be a sign of differences with the saffron party over the number of ministerial berths offered to it.
"We are not joining the government. This is our decision," Varma, who is also the general secretary of the JD(U) told PTI.
The BJP was offering one cabinet berth to the JD(U) and sources said the regional party was also unhappy with the portfolio offered to it.
However, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that there was no bad blood between the parties.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar: They wanted only 1 person from JDU in the cabinet, so it would have been just a symbolic participation.We informed them that it is ok we don't need it. It is not a big issue, we are fully in NDA and not upset at all.We are working together,no confusion. pic.twitter.com/AsDa8EUnUN
May 30, 2019The JD(U), which is headed by Nitish Kumar, was not a part of the first Modi government as well. It had allied with the saffron party in 2017 but had not joined the government.
There was no comment from the BJP over the development.
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