The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has always maintained that Nitish Kumar would retain the post, but the dismal performance of the Janata Dal United (JDU) had put a question on it.
(Photo: Twitter/@NitishKumar)
The legislator meeting of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Sunday has elected JDU chief Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister candidate of the alliance and leader will be serving the fourth straight term as CM.
The oath ceremony is likely to take place tomorrow.
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NDA won 125 seats in the 243-member state Assembly, three above the halfway mark.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has always maintained that Nitish Kumar would retain the post, but the dismal performance of the Janata Dal United (JDU) had put a question on it.
JDU has bagged only 43 seats in the recently concluded Bihar elections and the BJP managed to win 74 seats in the state. The JDU in 2015 assemble polls had won 71 seats and has come down by twenty-eight seats.
Nitish Kumar, the chief minister candidate for the NDA told reporters on Friday, “Things will be discussed in detail and all decisions will be taken at that time.”
The 69-year old leader has been attacked by the opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Lok Janshakti Party(LJP) leader Chirag Paswan who have spoken about ‘Nitish-Mukt Bihar.
The NDA has repeatedly assured that Nitish Kumar will be the next chief minister of Bihar, even when another alliance partner Lok Janshakti Party(LJP) leader Chirag Paswan rebelled against Kumar’s leadership and decide to contest the elections solo.
The question now arises about whether LJP leader Paswan, who in his election campaign attacked Nitish Kumar and had spoken about ‘Nitish-Mukt Bihar’ would continue to remain part of the NDA in Bihar.
The BJP however had said that anyone not accepting Nitish Kumar’s leadership would not be considered part of the NDA.
Opposition leader, Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal which emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats took a dig at JDU’s Nitish Kumar and said the voters made it clear that they wanted to change.
He said, “See where Nitish Kumar’s glow has gone. He has been pushed to the third position. This is a mandate for change.”
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