NEW DELHI/PATNA: The possibility of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar emerging as the choice of non-NDA parties as a challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level was raised by National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah who said Nitish must now start prepping himself to be the next PM .

“It's a new start for India and Nitish should now start making preparations to come to Delhi and become the prime minister and we will extend our full support to him for that,” Abdullah told TV channels before proceeding to attend Nitish's swearing-in ceremony.

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The process for this happening is of course a little more complicated than how Abdullah put it, given that the government’s term runs till 2019, but the Janata Dal (U) leader’s standing in clearly rising after his success in turning the tables on Modi in Bihar.

Abdullah is the first important ‘secular' figure to come out in public in support of Nitish as the man to run for the Centre. The comment confirms TOI report on November 8, the day of the Bihar verdict, that the big win could propel Nitish above other opposition leaders and he could emerge as a rallying point for an anti-BJP political formation.

Congress refused to be fazed by Nitish’s projection as a potential prime minister, describing the high words of secular leaders as political grace. “We must understand the spirit of the comment, not its letter, and Congress, as indeed the whole country, shares that spirit. Certainly, Nitish Kumar is a tall Indian leader and cannot be encapsulated within the confines of a state. The comment is intended to emphasize his great stature. However, talk about PMship is obviously hypothetical and speculative at this stage,” Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.

JD(U) too sought to play down the suggestion that Nitish could be the choice of an anti-BJP bloc for PM in 2019. “He is PM material but he is not PM candidate,” said a senior JD(U) functionary, who would not have lost sight that the proposal would not be received enthusiastically by partner RJD.

Slamming BJP, Abdullah congratulated the people of Bihar for defeating the “divisive forces” that were waging a “communal war” in the nation. “Laud the people of Bihar who chose to elect Nitish and Lalu and opt for development. It's definitely the start of something new,” Abdullah said.