Pavan Varma free to go wherever he likes, says Nitish Kumar

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".

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.

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