Amid speculation over the National Democratic Alliances's chief ministerial face for the Bihar assembly polls, Nishant Kumar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's son, says there is no confusion that his father will be the next CM.
"CM face ko lekar NDA mein koi confusion nahi hai, Nitish Kumar hi NDA ke CM face hai" Nishant told the media on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.
There has also been discussion that Nishant Kumar could be polevaulted to the Janata Dal-United leadership should Nitish Kumar's health prevent him from continuing as chief minister and JD-U president.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership appeared hesitant initially to declare Nitish Kumar as the NDA chief ministerial candidate for the Bihar assembly election scheduled for October-November 2025.
But that perception has changed in recent days with the BJP's primary leaders Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah indicating that the NDA will go to the polls under Nitish Kumar's leadership.
On Tuesday, Bihar Minister and BJP leader Sanjay Saraogi asserted that no matter what the Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal does, the "NDA will win again under the leadership of Nitish Kumar."
"Common people are with the NDA, Prime Minister Modi and Nitish Kumar's double-engine government. NDA is united, they are divided," Saraogi said on Tuesday.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary -- the BJP leader who Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini declared last Friday would lead the next government in Patna -- said Nitish Kumar will stay chief minister after the Bihar assembly elections.
"Even if the entire INDI alliance fights the election, Nitish Kumar will remain chief Minister of Bihar," Samrat Chaudhary told reporters in Patna.
Chaudhary's comments follow the Congress-RJD meeting at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in New Delhi to discuss poll strategy and seat sharing for the Bihar election.
"This time, change is certain in Bihar. Today, we met the former deputy chief minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav and discussed the strengthening of the Mahagathbandhan," Kharge said.
"Today's meeting was just a beginning... There is a second meeting in Patna on the 17th of April," Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru said. "The work that started in the meeting will be taken forward in Bihar by building a consensus and strategy with all the parties."
"The meeting was very good, and we will fight the NDA government with unity," Bihar's new Congress President Rajesh Kumar added. "Many topics were discussed. We will move forward on all those topics in a systematic manner."
When reporters asked Tejashwi Yadav about the INDIA bloc's chief ministerial face for the Bihar election, he would only say the choice would be decided unanimously.
Additional reportage: ANI, PTI
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
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