Nitish Kumar will compete to become Bihar's CM, confirms JD-U leader

Bihar's ruling Janata Dal (United) on Thursday rejected Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha's claim that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar does not wish to continue leading the state beyond 2020.

Senior JD-U leader and Bihar Minister Maheshwar Hazari said Nitish Kumar will continue to be the Chief Minister for another term after the current tenure ends in 2020.

Kushwaha, who heads the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, had on Wednesday claimed that Nitish Kumar had reached a "saturation point in power and he wants to step down".

"There is no vacancy for the Chief Minister's post in Bihar," Hazari said.

Sanjay Singh, another JD-U leader, said that Nitish Kumar will remain the Chief Minister for 15 more years. "It is useless to say that Nitish Kumar wants to step down".

Kushwaha has described Nitish Kumar as his elder brother and said he knew the Chief Minister better than anyone else.

Kushwaha was a JD-U leader, but fell out with Nitish Kumar in 2013 and formed his own political party.