Patna, Jan 13 (IANS): Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Saturday said that Lalu Prasad Yadav projected Nitish Kumar as the prime ministerial candidate of the INDIA bloc but ended up offering him the convener’s post.

“After showing Nitish Kumar the dream of a king, if you offered him the commander’s post. Why should he (Nitish Kumar) accept it?” Manjhi wrote on X.

He said that he was “pained” over the treatment of Nitish Kumar by the INDIA bloc alliance partners.

On Saturday, INDIA bloc held a virtual meeting in which Nitish Kumar refused the post of convener and the name of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was proposed for the chairperson of the alliance.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Rahul Gandhi, senior leader K.C. Venugopal; Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with Lalan Singh and Sanjay Jha; former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah; RJD President and Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav; NCP Chief Sharad Pawar; Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal; Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin besides other leaders participated in the virtual meeting of INDIA bloc.

Sources said that seat sharing arrangement, among other issues, were discussed during the meeting.