"I will not speak a word against Governor Buta Singh," Nitish Kumar, Bihar's would-be chief minister, said in Patna Tuesday.

• Bihar Elections 2005

A modest Kumar told reporters that he wanted to treat as bygone the remove-Buta campaign launched by the National Democratic Alliance after the Janata Dal(United)-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition had been denied an opportunity to form government.

The Assembly was dissolved by the Centre on the recommendation of the governor.

"These are all old matters now," he quipped when asked whether the NDA would still demand the removal of Buta Singh.

Senior NDA leaders had petitioned President A P J Abdul Kalam seeking removal of Buta Singh for recommending dissolution of the Bihar Assembly despite NDA's claim of having majority legislators in its favour.