Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar addresses the media at Press Club of India in New Delhi on Wednesday. Picture by Rajesh Kumar

New Delhi, Feb. 2: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar today sidestepped questions relating to his prime ministerial ambitions with a gentle laugh but said the gathering anti-Congress momentum in the country would produce its own leader.

Nitish took care to distance himself from his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi, believed to be another contender for the top post. Asked about his interaction with Modi during the internal security conference in Delhi yesterday, Nitish laughed and replied: “Ye hasne wali baat hai.”

Though he chose to maintain silence over specific queries, he readily answered questions over the spate in corruption cases, resurrecting the anti-Congressism that had catapulted him into political prominence.

“On one side there is corruption and on the other inflation. People are fed up and are rising. As far as the leadership issue is concerned, our political system will produce the leader like it had done in the past,” Nitish said even as he parried questions on whether he was ready to lead it.

Significance was attached here to Nitish’s response as his name repeatedly figures in political circles as a potential candidate in case of a joint Opposition effort to oust the Congress-led government at the Centre.

In that direction, Nitish strongly backed the Opposition’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scandal and said the Centre has no option but to give in.

He shot down the charge that the Opposition was wasting precious parliamentary time and depriving other key issues to be raised. “The Centre should accept the JPC probe demand. Why are they not accepting it? I can’t understand? They have no other option.”

Nitish denied that the Opposition’s campaign against corruption was not moving beyond Parliament and said rallies over the issue were indeed receiving the support of the people.

He urged the Delhi to instil people’s faith in the democratic system while alluding that it was crumbling.

“Democracy has to prove itself that it can deliver. The poor people otherwise will drift towards Naxalites. The poor get frustrated when they see people amassing wealth while they suffer because of price rise,” the chief minister said when asked about his effort to underline how corruption and inflation were threatening internal security.

Nitish deftly sidestepped a query on whether despite his secular credentials, he was indirectly strengthening the “communal” BJP. Asked about the BJP’s spectacular performance in the Bihar elections, the chief minister remarked: “The credit for the victory does not go to any political party or alliance. It was the victory of the Bihari people,” he said.

On his Opposition to the BJP’s Tiranga Yatra to Kashmir, Nitish said his reaction was straight from the heart and not done keeping in mind how his alliance partner would feel over it. He added that despite his alliance with the BJP, differences on some issues remain.

In spite of the differences, however, he made it clear that the JD(U)’s alliance with his partner was strong and was here to stay, without stating directly that anti-Congressism was not feasible without the BJP.