Amid all the clamour around Nitish Kumar ditching INDIA to join BJP, the JD(U) Bihar chief said that they are still with the opposition bloc but the Congress needs to do some serious introspection on ‘alliance and seat sharing’ to keep the alliance running.

       "All is well in Bihar's ruling Mahagathbandhan and the media speculations are driven by some agenda," Kushwaha said, as reported by PTI, and further added, "I met the CM yesterday as well as today. It is a routine affair. There is no truth in the rumours doing the rounds. We also reject the rumours that party MLAs have been asked to rush to Patna".

       Kushwaha, however, said, "We want the Congress, which is our alliance partner, to do some introspection with regard to its stance towards other constituents and sharing of seats. Our leader Nitish Kumar has for long been stressing on the need for early finalisation of seat-sharing deal so that we could concentrate on Lok Sabha polls".

       The state JD(U) chief also refused to acknowledge social media posts of Rohini Acharya, daughter of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, in which she appeared to have taken a swipe at Kumar. He stated, "We take no notice of that because Rohini Acharya is not an RJD office-bearer".

       ‘No doors permanently closed in politics…,’ Sushil Modi says

       Meanwhile, it seems that the BJP has also ‘kept their doors open’ for negotiation with Nitish Kumar.

       Speaking to reporters, BJP MP and former Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi said, "As far as Kumar or the JD(U) are concerned, doors are never permanently closed in politics. Closed doors open when the time comes but whether they will open or not is for our central leadership to decide."

       However, a section of BJP leaders from Bihar are not keen on aligning with Kumar, claiming that his stock is down and his diminishing credibility will harm their party and leave the field open to the RJD-led opposition to cash in on the anti-incumbency against him.

       Sources in both the BJP and the JD(U) suggested such a possibility but it remained unclear if Kumar, the unquestioned leader of his party, has finalised a deal with the BJP top brass.

       Meanwhile, RJD MP Manoj Jha told news agency ANI, “I am confident that the CM (Nitish Kumar) will refute this doubt which exists currently, and Bihar will continue to be part of productive politics."