Did not talk about retirement: Nitish Kumar on 'aakhiri chunaav' comment

Patna, Nov 13: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday has clarified his recent "aakhiri chunaav" (last poll) remark which had triggered intense speculations, saying he is not retiring in the near future and that his comment was misinterpreted.

"I did not talk about retirement...I always say the same thing at the last rally in every election that ''ant bhala to sab bhala'' (all is well that ends well). If you listen to the speech back and forth, everything will be clear," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Kumar, while campaigning for a Janata Dal United candidate in Bihar's Purnia earlier this month, said, "This is the last day of election. The day after this election will end and this is my last election. Ant bhala to sab bhala (All's well that ends well)."

However, JD(U) leaders had later came out with a clarification that "aakhiri chunaav" meant "aakhiri chunaavi sabha" (last election meeting) and Kumar was not talking about retirement.

"I have been selflessly serving people. Still, some people succeeded in creating some confusion. You must have noted the anxieties triggered in public mind following the projections of the exit polls," Kumar said.

The JD(U) president was talking to journalists here for the first time after results for the assembly elections came out and the NDA got a clear majority, though his own party suffered a slump and got outperformed by junior partner BJP. The JD(U) won 43 seats against the saffron party's 71.