BJP to have ‘4,000 MPs’: Nitish Kumar touches PM’s feet after gaffe

It was a 25-minute-long speech, full of bells and whistles, that ended with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar touching the feet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with whom he met at the White House today. Harpang Nawada shared the stage. The prime minister was apparently waiting for Mr Kumar to finish and was heard joking. Prime Minister Modi was quoted as saying by a leader who overheard their speech: “Your speech was brilliant, I have nothing to say.” At this, the chief minister beamed, bent down and touched his feet.

Mr Kumar’s speech quickly went viral on social media.

In particular, the Chief Minister said that in the upcoming general election, the people will cast all their votes for the Prime Minister, who will “come back with four thousand – (to himself) 4,000 MPs”.

Today Nitishji raised the slogan of crossing 4,000. pic.twitter.com/Sef6ACaSxo

— Kanchana Yadav (@Kanchanyadav000) April 7, 2024

The total strength of the Lok Sabha is 543 and the target set by Prime Minister Modi in the NDA is 400.

There were other faux pas. One BJP leader privately said that his government had started erecting fencing at cemeteries, which was a “totally avoidable mention”.

At one point, Vijay Kumar Choudhary, a senior leader in Kumar’s BJP, sat in the front row of the podium, fidgeting and looking at his watch. He then gestured to the chief minister, presumably to conclude his speech. I even saw several leaders standing up expectantly and looking at the rostrum impatiently.

However, Mr. Kumar took his time and was done within a few minutes.

Sources in the BJP said Mr Kumar will not need to attend any further meetings after the seat-sharing talks are concluded.

Over the past few years, Mr. Kumar has made more headlines for his faux pas than anything else. His inappropriate comments about female pregnancy and linking it to education upset many people and forced him to apologize.

In September last year, at a Janta Darbar meeting, when a man complained about issues related to the state home ministry, Mr Kumar ordered an official to call the home minister, forgetting that he himself was in charge of the home ministry.