Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, of late at loggerheads with ally BJP over several issues, on Monday appeared to back the party over the uproar against the disrespectful remarks made by now-suspended spokesperson Nupur Sharma against the Prophet, saying the protests were unnecessary and hinting at instigation.

JDU leader Nitish pointed out that the BJP had taken action against Sharma.

“The party took action against Sharma. FIRs were also registered against her. Yet demonstrations happened at many places. Some took place in Bihar also. There was no need to behave like this after action was taken on the issue,” Nitish told journalists on the sidelines of his Janata Durbar (public interaction).

Expressing surprise over the protests and processions organised at 10 or 11 places in Bihar last Friday, the chief minister said he had asked top officials to monitor the situation and ensure no untoward incident took place.

“Sometimes I feel some people deliberately want to fight in spite of whatever you do for them. They want to quarrel among themselves. It is not necessary that some things will happen naturally,” Nitish said.

The Bihar chief minister’s statements have surprised many as he has been taking stands contrary to the BJP’s on multiple controversial matters, such as the proposed uniform civil code, the National Register for Citizens (NRC), the National Population Register (NRC), population control laws or policies and controversies over the hijab, offering namaz in the open and loudspeakers atop places of worship.

Recently, there were murmurs of Nitish being nominated by the BJP as a candidate for the presidential election scheduled in July. However, he rejected any such possibility.

“Neither have I any wish nor any interest in this. Please do not drag me into this. People are talking about it just like that. It started several months ago. It is meaningless. I have nothing to do with this,” he said on Monday.

Nitish refused to tell whom he would support in the presidential poll because the candidates are yet to be declared. His JDU had twice voted for candidates outside the alliance it had been part of at that time — supporting the UPA’s Pranab Mukherjee while being in the NDA in 2012 and backing the NDA’s Ram Nath Kovind in 2017 while being a member of the Opposition Grand Alliance in Bihar.

Nitish took a strong view when reporters asked him on Monday about the purported attempts to rewrite history and change long-established perceptions.

“Will you change history? I do not understand how history will change. History is history. What is there has history. I don’t think anybody can change the original history,” he said.