Patna, June 13: Taking a swipe at the Congress, chief minister Nitish Kumar today said it was resorting to a give-and-take policy to get support of its allies for its presidential poll candidate.

“The Congress’s policy for its allies to survive in power is give-and-take,” Nitish told reporters while reacting to reports of Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee demanding a special package for her state in lieu of Trinamul Congress’s support to the presidential candidate of the Congress.

On the prospects of former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee being a possible candidate, Nitish said he would react only after the Congress announced its candidate. “The Congress should announce its candidate instead of seeking support from other parties,” Nitish said.

The JD(U) has maintained an independent stand from its ally on the issue of the presidential candidate. When the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, had declared that the NDA would not support Pranab Mukherjee as a presidential candidate, JD(U)’s national president Sharad Yadav had said the Congress should first announce its candidate and then the NDA should act collectively on the proposed name.

Nitish also refused to comment on senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh making a bid for the post of vice-president.