No talks of JD(U) joining Union Cabinet: Nitish Kumar

Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar today appeared to dismiss the talk of his party joining the Union Cabinet in tomorrow's reshuffle, saying he had no such information.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a revamp of the Union Cabinet tomorrow to fill key vacancies and bring in new faces.
"There was no such talks of the JD(U) joining the Union Cabinet. No talks were held on the issue (between the BJP and JD(U))," he said.
"I have come to know through media only that the JD(U) is going to join the Union Cabinet. I did not have any information in this regard," Kumar said when media persons' asked about the Union Cabinet reshuffle.

The chief minister, however, said that his party would take a decision if any such proposal comes for joining the Union Cabinet which will witness a major revamp tomorrow to fill key vacancies.
"But as of now, there is nothing like that (joining the cabinet)," Kumar added.

Senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi feigned ignorance about JD(U) joining the Union Cabinet and said, "I don't have any information in this regard as this is not a state level matter. It's a matter to be dealt with by higher ups."
Earlier in the day, a senior JD(U) leader said that the party has not been informed about its participation in the government.

"Our MPs are in Delhi. There was never any issue in the party over participating in the government but there has been no communication to us even though the reshuffle is tomorrow," he said.
The JD(U), which joined the NDA recently, has two Lok Sabha members Kaushalendra Kumar and Santosh Kushwaha. It has nine Rajya Sabha members including rebels Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar.