Nitish to skip non-NDA parties meeting

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is unlikely to attend the opposition meeting to decide their choice for vice-president on Tuesday.

It is being said that Nitish is recovering from a viral infection, but speculation is widespread that he wants to avoid the media in view of the recent Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids on the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and alliance partner Lalu Prasad Yadav and family. He is also reportedly miffed over the opposition's criticism of him for not siding with their choice as presidential candidate Meira Kumar.

The Bihar chief minister, however, has called national and state lawmakers of his Janata Dal (United) party for a meeting in Patna on Tuesday.