NDA leaders back CM Nitish Kumar as face for upcoming Bihar elections

The ruling NDA in Bihar on Friday dismissed speculations that the coalition could do a rethink on projecting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its leader in the assembly polls due next year.

Speaking to the media after a meeting held here to bring about better coordination at the grassroots level, state presidents of parties like the BJP, Kumar's JD(U) and Union minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) also rubbished suggestions triggered by Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent statement.

Dilip Jaiswal, state minister and Bihar BJP chief said, "We should understand that Amit Shah was trying to underscore that he was a karyakarta' (worker) of a party in which big decisions are taken by the parliamentary board".

"But, the leadership role of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had been a given for long. There is no question of going back on that, asserted Jaiswal.

He was responding to Shah's recent interview to a news channel in which he was asked whether the NDA could go to polls in Bihar without declaring a chief ministerial candidate, like it recently did with great success in Maharashtra.

Shah, a former BJP president who is still regarded as the party's principal strategist, had replied after a pause, We will sit together and decide. We will let you know after we have taken a decision.

The cryptic response had led to furious speculations that the BJP could insist on not projecting Kumar, who had been leading Bihar's NDA charge for close to a couple of decades, in the 2025 assembly polls.

Jaiswal's sentiments were echoed by Raju Tiwari, state president of the LJP (RV), who said, "There is no doubt that the NDA will contest the upcoming assembly polls under Nitish Kumar's leadership. If there have been any misgivings, the BJP president has addressed these with his categorical statement.

JD(U) state president Umesh Singh Kushwaha was visibly pleased with the endorsement for his leader. He said with delight Do hazaar pachis phir se Nitish' (Nitish again in 2025). This is the sentiment of all our alliance partners.

The JD(U) was never worried about leadership, which is a settled question in Bihar. We are concentrating on better coordination, at not just state, but district and booth levels, too, he added.