Nitish Kumar Will Lead NDA In Bihar, Assures BJP; JDU Confirms He Will Take Oath As CM Post Diwali

Not only Tyagi but even several BJP leaders also informed that Nitish Kumar will continue to be the Chief Minister of Bihar.

Nitish Kumar pays tribute to first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, on his birth anniversary, in Patna. (Image: PTI)

Patna: After an edge-to-edge battle between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Grand Alliance in the state assembly elections of Bihar, for which the counting of votes took more than 18 hours and the NDA emerged as the winner. As NDA stands at 125 seats, out of which the long-term ally of the alliance Janata Dal-United (JDU) managed to win on only 43 seats while the Bhartiya Janata Party bagged up 74 seats, questions are being raised, whether Nitish Kumar will still be the chief minister of Bihar. Replying to the questions of Nitish Kumar continuing as the CM despite a poor show in Bihar Elections 2020, JDU spokesperson KC Tyagi said that Kumar will be taking oath as Chief Minister after Diwali. "Nitish Kumar may take oath as the next chief minister after Diwali," spokesperson of JDU, Tyagi said. Not only Tyagi but even several BJP leaders also informed that Nitish Kumar will continue to be the Chief Minister of Bihar. After senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh took a dig at the NDA while asking Nitish Kumar to join national politics, BJP leaders such as Giriraj Singh responded by saying that Nitish Kumar is the NDA leader in Bihar. Digvijaya Singh said in a tweet, “Nitish Ji, Bihar has become too small for you, you should enter national politics now. Join all like-minded, secular people of India to take on the people who believe in the ‘divide and rule policy’. Do consider.” To this, Giriraj Singh replied, "Nitish Kumar is the NDA leader, loss or gain does not affect his status. What gains have been made by Tejashwi Yadav? He was speaking against Nitish Kumar, now people of Bihar have asked him to take a rest. Digvijaya Singh should take care of his own state." Similarly, claiming the win for the NDA not for individual parties, BJP leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi said, "In an alliance, not all parties win an equal number of seats. Who won how many seats is irrelevant, people voted for NDA. BJP played a role in JDU's victory and JDU played a role in BJP's victory. JDU, BJP, VIP, and HAM worked together and registered this victory." Sushil Modi also said that there is no confusion about the mandate given by the people of Bihar. NDA has won 125 seats while the required majority in the Bihar assembly is 122. NDA partner Jitan Ram Majhi said, “NDA won under Nitish Kumar and even the BJP top leadership has already given their consent in Nitish Kumar’s favor. Loss or gain is not important now. In Bihar, NDA fights as a unit.”