Bihar: Nitish Kumar snubs PM Modi, skips International Yoga Day celebrations in Patna

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said Yoga has emerged as a "powerful unifying" force but his Bihar ally Nitish Kumar has distanced himself from International Yoga Day celebration organised by a BJP minister in Patna.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Photo: PTI

Patna: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday distanced himself from International Yoga Day celebration in Bihar. Last year too Kumar and his party JDU kept away from celebrations in Bihar but he was then with the Grand Alliance along with the RJD and Congress. This time Kumar skipped the event despite being part of the NDA. A mass yoga session was organised in Patna by the state health department, headed by BJP leader Mangal Pandey, at the Patliputra Sports Complex. Governor Satyapal Malik, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and others took part in the event. Defending Nitish Kumar, his deputy and BJP leader Sushil Modi said it is not necessary that everyone comes out to participate. "Why do you want to make an issue out of Nitish Kumar's absence?" Modi said. "It is not a question about the JDU. I know more than dozen people present here who are from the JDU. Don't people from the RJD and the JDU practice Yoga? It is not necessary that everyone comes out to participate," PTI quoted Modi as saying. Opposition RJD latched on to Kumar's absence to take a dig at him. In a statement, RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwary said it was "part of the old strategy of Nitish to appear different from his allies and then make a volte face." JDU state President Vashisht Narain Singh had said on Wednesday that the people have been doing yoga in their homes and it's a part of India' culture. "Yoga is a personal choice of people. It is their private decision to do yoga or not. I also do yoga at my residence daily and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar too does yoga. But we never display it in public. Doing or displaying yoga in public place is wrong," IANS quoted VN Sing as saying on Wednesday. This latest snub by Nitish Kumar and his party came at the time when there were reports of a rift between the NDA and its partners in Bihar over seat sharing for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Kumar, who walked into the NDA after defecting from the Grand Alliance of the RJD and the Congress, had in recent past displayed disagreements with the ruling coalition. Last month, while addressing a gathering in Patna he raised questions on the benefits of demonetization move, raising suspicions and eyebrows.