Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar remembered former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the occasion of his 99th birth anniversary on Monday and pointed out that, unlike the present times, nobody from any other religion faced any problem when Vajpayee was at the helm.

Nitish’s words were interpreted as a salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government at the Centre. The Bihar chief minister also asserted that all was well with his Janata Dal United (JDU) and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

“Nobody from any other religion faced any problem during the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji as the Prime Minister. He used to run everything so nicely,” Nitish told reporters.

Speaking at the state function in Patna to celebrate Vajpayee’s birth anniversary, the chief minister remembered his cordial relations with him and how he entrusted three ministries to him.

“He (Vajpayee) loved me and made me the chief minister of Bihar. I will always respect him. He immediately accepted anything I proposed during the meetings. We worked a lot in every field,” the chief minister added.

Dismissing the statements by BJP leaders that the JDU was in a crisis and was about to break up as “nonsensical”, Nitish asserted that he did not pay attention to them as they always spoke useless things laced with ulterior motives.

“Nobody in my party has gone anywhere. Everybody is united in it. There is no problem. We all are working together. Just see how much we are working and how many jobs we are giving. I had promised 10 lakh jobs and we have already reached the halfway mark,” the chief minister said.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was also present with Nitish on the occasion.

Several BJP leaders claimed that JDU national president and Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh aka Lalan Singh had grown close to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and the JDU, hence, was heading towards a split.

There is speculation that Lalan could be removed from the upcoming JDU national executive in Delhi on December 29.

As mediapersons fired questions about seat sharing among INDIA partners, Nitish gestured to Tejashwi to reply to them.

“It will happen on time. Why are you worrying? There is no problem anywhere,” Tejashwi said.

The chief minister also interjected: “Everything in the alliance is going to happen on time. There is no problem.”

Denying that he was unhappy or angry in any way in the INDIA bloc, Nitish pointed out that he had “no wish to become anything. I just want everybody to stay united”.

“I have asked at the INDIA meeting to finalise the seat sharing and select candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in every state. Once this is done, they contest. I am not angry even a bit. When they were making him (Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge) the convener of the alliance, I agreed saying make whoever you want. I do not have any desire,” Nitish said.

Nitish has always held that he did not want anything in the Opposition alliance. However, JDU leaders have repeatedly projected his name as its convener and prime ministerial candidate.