Janata Parivar merger will not take much time: Nitish Kumar

Patna, March 28: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said there was no "cloud of uncertainty" over merger of old Janata Parivar splinter groups and that it was on track.

"The merger vehicle of Janata Parivar is on track and the vehicle is on the run," Kumar told reporters after a conclave on skill development here. "I think the merger will not take much time," he said.

"The date of the next meeting on merger will be decided soon in which everything will become clear," Kumar said.

Kumar, during his recent stay in Delhi, had met Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, who has been authorised to decide modalities for the merger of Janata Parivar, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala in a bid to speed up the process.

"On March 27, I, Lalu Prasad, Sharad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav held detailed talks on merger issue," Kumar, who is playing a significant role in the amalgam exercise, said.

The coming together of splinter parties of old Janata Parivar before Assembly poll in Bihar later this year would be a decisive factor to give BJP a strong challenge.

Nitish: I think the merger will not take much time

Asked about infighting in Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Kumar, who had a lucheon meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal yesterday, exuded confidence things would be sorted out mutually by them.

On a question on his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kumar said he had a talk with the PM on needs for development of the state.

"The discussion was good. The PM heard everything and promised to look into them," Kumar, who met his arch rival Narendra Modi after a long gap, said.

Kumar said he acquainted the PM with the "loss" that Bihar would accrue due to recommendations of 14th Finance Commission and demanded to compensate it. Kumar said he also put forward the demand for according special category status to Bihar to spur its industrial growth.

The Bihar CM said he requested the PM to make available special financial assistance to Bihar at the earliest.

PTI