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Shah gave a massive vote of confidence to outgoing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and said there was no confusion that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was contesting the elections under his leadership.
“There is no vacancy for CM in Bihar, there is no confusion here. I have just said that we are contesting the elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar,” Shah told Rahul Joshi, Group Editor-in-Chief, Network18, on News18 ‘Sabse Bada Dangal’ ahead of the assembly elections in Bihar.
Asked who would be the chief minister if the NDA returns to power, Shah took a dig at the “dynastic” politics within the grand alliance. He said RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav wants his son Tejashwi Yadav to become the Chief Minister of Bihar; And Congress leader Sonia Gandhi wants her son Rahul Gandhi to become the Prime Minister.
He said, “Lalu ji wants his son to become the CM and according to Sonia ji, her son should become the PM. I want to tell both of them that there is no vacancy in Bihar or Delhi; there is Modi ji in Delhi and Nitish Kumar ji in Bihar.”
He said Bihar has seen tremendous progress in the last 11 years under the “double engine” government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar.
He said, “In 11 years, 85.2 million (8 crore 52 lakh) people have received 5 kg free food grains, 6.60 crore accounts have been opened under Jan Dhan Yojana. Nitish Kumar has completely freed Bihar from ‘Jungle Raj’ in 11 years.”
The Union minister’s comments come a day after opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav attacked the NDA, saying Nitish Kumar is a “puppet” in the ruling alliance and the BJP will not make him the CM if it returns to power.
The BJP reacted strongly to Tejashwi’s comments, saying he should “take care of his home first”.
Responding to the launch of the opposition’s election manifesto, ‘Bihar ka Tejashwi Prana’, on Tuesday (October 28), BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters, “Nitish Kumar was, is and will be the chief minister. Tejashwi should take care of his home first.”
Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary has also supported Nitish Kumar, saying it is up to the people of Bihar whether they want a “criminal family” at the top or a “clean” leader like the JD(U) stalwart. This indicates, if nothing else, an overall consensus within the NDA that Nitish Kumar will continue to lead the state and the alliance if he wins the elections.
Bihar Assembly elections will be held in two phases on 6 and 11 November. The results will be declared on 14 November.