After Shah's Remark Triggers Speculation, BJP's Samrat Choudhary Clarifies On Nitish Kumar's Role For Bihar Poll

Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary on Sunday said that the assembly polls will be held under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

After the Mahayuti government formation in Maharashtra, the BJP has shifted its focus towards the upcoming polls, especially in Bihar. Ahead of the assembly elections in the state, the NDA has maintained that the alliance will contest the polls next year under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary on Sunday said that the assembly polls will be held under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"There is no confusion," Choudhary 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.

Samrat Choudhary's statement comes two days after Bihar BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal dismissed speculations that the NDA coalition could do a rethink on projecting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its leader in the assembly polls due next year.

The speculations come after Home Minister Amit Shah's recent statement to a news channel on the leadership question in Bihar.
 
When asked if the NDA could go to the polls in Bihar without declaring a chief ministerial candidate like in Maharashtra, Shah 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. Elections to the 243-member Bihar Assembly are due in late 2025.

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 Narendra Modi," the deputy CM added.

Meanwhile, Bihar minister Dilip Jaiswal said, "We should understand that Amit Shah was trying to underscore that he was a ‘karyakarta’ (worker) of a party in which big decisions are taken by the parliamentary board. But, the leadership role of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had been a given for long. There is no question of going back on that."

In the recent Maharashtra Assembly Elections where BJP-led Mahayuti won, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena had proposed the 'Nitish formula' for the state to continue as the Chief Minister for the second term. 

However, the BJP, which emerged as the largest party, chose Devendra Fadnavis as the CM, while nominating Shinde as his deputy.