Sonia Gandhi, Rahul dial Nitish Kumar to thank him for supporting Gopalkrishna Gandhi as Opposition's vice presidential candidate

Eighteen Opposition parties have chosen Gopalkrishna Gandhi as their joint candidate for vice president.

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Patna: A day after eighteen Opposition parties chose Gopalkrishna Gandhi as their joint candidate for vice president, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday phoned Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to thank him for supporting the former West Bengal governor.

Nitish, the JD(U) president, also received a phone call from Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi last evening, JD(U) leader KC Tyagi said.

Rahul had recently intervened to end the war of words between the Congress and the JD(U) in the wake of Nitish breaking away from the Opposition to support NDA's Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind. 

The vice presidential election will take place on August 5 and votes will be counted the same evening.

Interestingly, on July 10, Bihar BJP chief Nityanand Rai had said in Delhi that his party could support state Nitish if he broke ties with the RJD but had insisted that the decision rested on the BJP's central leadership.

"If our central leadership gives such instructions, then we will support Nitish," he had said.

To be noted is the fact that, the RJD-JD(U) alliance government in Bihar has been following uncertainty following the CBI's case of corruption against RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son and Deputy CM Tejashwi.

(With PTI inputs)