NEW DELHI: The conspicuous absence of affirmation from the BJP top brass on ally Nitish Kumar’s chief ministership ahead of the upcoming Bihar assembly polls has led to out-of-sync statements from both the BJP and the JD(U).
While Nitish’s party has dug its heels on the CM post, Haryana counterpart Nayab Singh Saini’s remark that NDA would win the Bihar poll under BJP’s Samrat Choudhary raised eyebrows on Monday.
As Saini’s statement triggered flutter in the poll-bound Bihar, the JD(U) leaders rolled up their sleeves on Tuesday to assert Nitish as CM for the next five years.
Blunting the opposition’s charge of the BJP outsmarting the Nitish, national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad dismissed the Haryana CM’s comment and asserted that the ruling alliance faces no crisis over its chief ministerial face in Bihar.
Prasad said, “The Bihar assembly elections will be held under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, and he will be the face of the National Democratic Alliance. Chief minister Nitish Kumar will head the NDA government, which is certain to be formed after the elections for a full term till 2030.”
Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar also appealed to Bihar voters “to give a majority (to JDU) more than what they gave in 2010… Nitish Kumar will undoubtedly become the CM”.
Samrat Chaudhary, who is Bihar’s deputy CM, expressed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is going to retain his post after the Bihar Assembly elections even if the “entire UPA, INDI alliance” fights the polls.
“There is no challenge. Even if the entire UPA and the entire INDI alliance fight, Nitish Kumar will remain the chief minister of Bihar,” Samrat Chaudhary told ANI in Patna.
The BJP has made it clear on several occasions that the Bihar election will be fought under CM Nitish Kumar but has remained mum on whether he would be the CM for five years after the NDA victory.
Meanwhile, as the uncertainty shrouds Nitish’s chief ministership, Congress and the RJD huddled at Malikarjun Kharge’s house to pan out an alliance in the state.
The meeting was also attended by Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, party’s general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal and others. On the RJD side, MP Manoj Jha, MP Sanjay Yadav and other leaders were present.
Early this morning, Tejashwi Yadav landed at Delhi airport for his official meeting with the Congress over the Bihar polls. After coming out of the airport, he said they would be discussing seat-sharing and poll strategy at Kharge’s residence.
Speaking to reporters, Yadav said, “Today is our official meeting. We will discuss the strategies for Bihar (elections). “
