NDA to fight Bihar polls with Nitish as CM face

NDA to fight Bihar polls with Nitish as CM face

New Delhi: The NDA will contest the Assembly polls in Bihar next year under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary said on Sunday.

"There is no confusion," he said during a press conference at the BJP headquarters when asked to comment on speculation that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) could do a rethink on projecting Kumar as its leader in the polls. He was responding to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent interview to a news channel in which he was asked if the NDA could go to the 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 made a decision." The cryptic response had led to furious speculation that the BJP could insist on not projecting Kumar in the 2025 polls.

Dismissing the speculation, Choudhary said, "The NDA is working under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bihar, and we will continue to contest elections under the leadership of both leaders."

"In 2020, we contested after announcing (Kumar as the NDA's chief ministerial face) and, till date, we have considered Chief Minister Nitish Kumar only (as the NDA leader in Bihar).

In future also, we will contest elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and PM Narendra Modi," the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister added.

Elections to the 243-member Bihar Assembly are due in late 2025.