Patna, May 1 (IANS): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar opted to inaugurate an ethanol plant in the state's Purnea instead of participating in the Chief Ministers-Chief Justices meeting in Delhi, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, as he is "not pleased" with the top leadership of BJP, sources said.

Hence, he is maintaining distance with BJP leaders and showing closeness to opposition leaders like Tejashwi Yadav and Chirag Paswan in the recent past.

In the last 10 days, Nitish Kumar met Tejashwi Yadav thrice and Paswan twice and had a cordial exchange, with the possible idea of giving a strong message to BJP top leadership.

BJP leaders like Chedi Paswan, Hari Bhushan Thakur Bachaul, and Vinay Bihari openly demanded the Chief Minister's post for a BJP leader. They have also projected Deputy Chief Minister Tar Kishore Prasad as the CM candidate.

These leaders also advocated Nitish Kumar to move to the Centre. Some of them also said that he is an ideal candidate for the post of Vice President. However, the top leadership of BJP reportedly is not ready for this.