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Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel on Friday said that Nitish Kumar is "defeated" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah following Kumar filing his nomination to the Rajya Sabha, in the presence of Amit Shah and other political leaders.
Bhupesh Baghel said that the BJP had "refused to accept" Nitish Kumar as CM after the Bihar Assembly election. "The Chief Minister there (in Bihar) will be changed. The BJP had refused to accept Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister's face since the time of the Bihar elections. From that very time, it had become clear that they would not let him remain the Chief Minister. But Nitish Kumar took the oath for the 10th time. Now he is defeated by Modi and Shah's move," he said. Meanwhile, some of the Janata Dal (United) supporters have also opposed Nitish Kumar's move as they put up posters outside the party's office on Friday, calling for the leader to reconsider his decision. The poster said, "Nitish sevak kar raha pukaar, neta kare apne nirnaye par poornvichar", further adding "Violation of the people's mandate and self-respect in democracy will not be tolerated now." Nitish Kumar, who has served as Bihar's longest-tenured Chief Minister for over two decades, filed his nomination for Rajya Sabha elections on Thursday. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) welcomed Kumar's decision and lauded his return to the parliamentary democracy. Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed Nitish Kumar's tenure as Bihar CM as a "golden chapter" in the state's history during which he made significant contributions to Bihar's progress. "For 11 years under PM Modi's leadership, he made a significant contribution to Bihar's progress in every way, and it was under his leadership that all of PM Modi's initiatives reached the people of Bihar... He is once again returning to Delhi as a Rajya Sabha MP. I and all our NDA colleagues heartily welcome him, and his tenure as Chief Minister will always be remembered and respected by the people of Bihar," he said. The polling for the upcoming biennial elections to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to fill the 37 seats across 10 states is scheduled to take place on March 16, with the counting of votes on the same day at 5 pm. According to the press note, the term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected. (ANI)
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