NEW DELHI: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary said on Sunday said the NDA will contest the assembly polls in Bihar next year under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“There should not be any confusion about it. The NDA will seek the people’s mandate again under CM Nitish Kumar and PM Narendra Modi’s leadership,” Choudhary told reporters at the party headquarters, responding to speculations regarding the projection of Kumar as the alliance’s leader in the 2025 state polls.
The JD(U) had reaffirmed its stance on Sunday regarding Nitish’s lead role in the upcoming polls.
Choudhary’s remarks came after 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.” This ambiguous response had fuelled speculations that the BJP might reconsider projecting Kumar as its leader in the 2025 elections.
Dispelling doubts, 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.”
He added that the NDA had contested the 2020 elections with Kumar as its chief ministerial candidate and still viewed him as the alliance’s leader in Bihar. “In future as well, we will contest elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and the PM,” he affirmed.
Choudhary also took a jibe at AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of attempting to create divisions by linking Poorvanchali people with Rohingyas and Bangladeshis. He urged people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh settled in Delhi to respond strongly to Kejriwal’s comments in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Referring to Kejriwal’s handling of the Covid pandemic, Choudhary criticised him for allegedly neglecting Bihari and UP residents in Delhi, forcing many to return to their home states due to a lack of medical facilities. “He didn’t even provide basic treatment for them,” he alleged. Choudhary also questioned Kejriwal’s delayed implementation of the Ambedkar scholarship scheme for Dalit students.”Why did he wait so long to introduce it?” the BJP leader asked