Nitish Kumar Congratulates Ram NAth Kovind As Will Be Present In the Oath Taking Ceremony on July 25

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 When Ram Nath Kovind takes his oath as the 14th President of India, the VVIP attendees will include Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Sources said that when the Chief Minister called the President-elect on Thursday to congratulate him, he was invited to the ceremony on July 25 and confirmed he will be there. 

 The count-me-in will inject new tension to the relationship between Nitish Kumar and his allies, Bihar leader Lalu Yadav and the Congress party.

 The Chief Minister ignored their advice and strode away from a front of 18 opposition parties he had helped assemble to announce last month that he would support Ram Nath Kovind, who was the government's candidate.

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose shock notes ban in November provoked ferocious opposition from all major non-BJP leaders barring the Bihar Chief Minister, who declared it essential in fighting corruption and black money.

 Nitish Kumar's equation with Lalu Yadav in particular had plummeted over the last few weeks with the latter's son, Tejashwi Yadav, being accused of corruption by the CBI. The Chief Minister hinted it was incumbent upon Tejashwi Yadav, 28, to resign as his deputy.

 Nitish Kumar's stepping out of the opposition line-up comes as several law-makers broke with their parties to back Ram Nath Kovind, who defeated the opposition candidate Meira Kumar, with nearly 65 per cent of the vote.

 The cross-voting is being seen as an indicator of the challenges to opposition unity as it strategises to collectively take on the Prime Minister in 2019.

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