"He (Varma) is a scholarly person for whom I have enormous, personal respect. But the types of statements he has been giving, it has left me flabbergasted," he said
Nitish Kumar after paying tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his birth anniversary. Pic/PTI
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday took umbrage at his senior party leader Pavan Varma for going public with reservations about the JD(U)'s support to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and tie-up with BJP for the Delhi Assembly polls, and made it clear that the "scholarly" diplomat-turned-politician was "free to go wherever he likes".
ADVERTISEMENT
Kumars blunt remarks came two days after Varma sent him a two-page letter on the issue and shared screenshots of the same on his official Twitter handle and Facebook profile. Varma, who had sought "ideological clarity" from Kumar the JD(U)'s national president had arrived in the city later in the day on a private visit during which he could not meet the chief minister but demanded from him "a full statement" on CAA-NPR-NRC.
"He (Varma) is a scholarly person for whom I have enormous, personal respect. But the types of statements he has been giving, it has left me flabbergasted," he said. "There should be no confusion on the stand taken by the JD(U) on issues. Our stand is always very clear," Kumar said. "But if he had any reservations, he could have expressed the same in a party forum. And the reference to conversations made in private! Would I ever go public with what he has said to me in private," he added.
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever