NEW DELHI: Amid speculation that former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi may return to the NDA, the BJP's state unit head Sanjay Jaiswal on Saturday said whosoever expresses faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership is welcome in the alliance.
On August 20, Manjhi, an erstwhile JD(U) leader who founded Hindustani the Awam Morcha (Secular), severed ties with the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) led by the RJD after remaining in the opposition coalition for two-and-a-half years.
Manjhi has been meeting Bihar chief minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar for past several months.
Replying to a question while talking to reporters after BJP president JP Nadda's meeting with the party's MPs from Bihar, Jaiswal said, "Whosoever reposes faith in Narendra Modiji's leadership is welcome in NDA."
Talking about the meeting, Jaiswal said Nadda told the MPs to work for the victory of the BJP as well its NDA partners candidates in the upcoming assembly polls.
The BJP's national president also instructed party MPs to visit at least 60 panchayats in September and interact with the people.
In a tweet, Nadda later said, "Addressed the meeting of Bihar MPs in wake of upcoming elections in the state. All our MPs will visit panchayats in the state and will spread the word about development work and the welfare schemes carried out by the Modi government."
The meeting was also attended by BJP's incharge for Bihar Bhupender Yadav and party's joint general secretary (organisation) Saudan Singh.
JD(U)-led NDA is in power in Bihar for nearly 15 years.
The LJP is also a member of NDA which won won 39 out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 general elections.
BJP president Nadda had already made it clear that Nitish Kumar would be the chief minister's face in assembly elections in Bihar.
The elections in the state are expected to be held in October-November.