Nitish to lead NDA in 2025 Bihar Assembly polls: BJP's state chief

Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal on Wednesday asserted that the NDA will contest the 2025 assembly polls in the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

He also rejected speculations triggered by a recent remark of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in response to a query about Kumar, who heads the JD(U).

In an interview with a private news channel, Shah, who is a former BJP president, had evaded a direct reply when he was asked whether the NDA would adopt in Bihar a strategy similar to that in Maharashtra where it went to polls without declaring a chief ministerial candidate and got a landslide victory.

Shah, who is widely regarded as the second-most powerful person in the BJP after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had replied after a pause, "We will sit together and decide on the issue. Once we take a decision, we will let you know."  The equivocal reply has led to speculations in political circles here about the fate of Kumar, who is in his 70s, has been at the helm for close to two decades, and seems to have grown a little less popular, as suggested by the declining fortunes of his party.

However, when journalists approached Jaiswal with queries, he insisted that much was being read into the statement of Shah, who is widely regarded as the BJP's principal strategist.

"As the head of the party's state unit, I can tell you that we are under instructions to work for the NDA's victory, in 2025, with Nitish Kumar as the leader. The statement of Amit Shah should be understood in the proper context," said Jaiswal, who is also a minister in the state cabinet.

He added, "The decision on leadership is something I am not competent to take despite being the state president. The party constitution is something even top leaders like Shah adhere to. Therefore, he chose not to comment on an issue that, in the BJP, is never decided by an individual."  Meanwhile, the CPI(ML) Liberation, an INDIA bloc constituent, said Kumar needed to be on guard against BJP's "betraying character" (vishwasghati charitra).

CPI(ML)-L legislative party leader Mehboob Alam said, "Nitish Kumar has been held hostage by the BJP. He could not act against Union minister Giriraj Singh and BJP MP from Araria, Pradip Singh, both of whom made inflammatory speeches recently."  He added that despite BJP's claims that it was fully behind Kumar, the JD(U) supremo needed to "remember their past record, in state after state, where they have devoured their alliance partners".

Asked whether the INDIA bloc would welcome Kumar, who was a key figure in formation of the opposition coalition, if he chose to junk NDA, the Left leader said, "We are not thinking in those terms. I am just giving an advice to Nitish Kumar who risks losing all his credibility.