NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday said that it will contest the upcoming Bihar assembly election 2020 under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The saffron party also hailed Nitish Kumar as the leader of the NDA in Bihar and welcomed the like-minded parties to join hands with the alliance before the assembly polls.
“Nitish Kumar is the leader of NDA in Bihar, all talks in Bihar 'gathbandhan' are being held under his leadership. BJP accepts his leadership in the state, whoever accepts Nitish Kumar's leadership will be part of NDA 'gathbandhan'” Sanjay Jaiswal, state BJP leader, said, according to the news agency ANI.
The announcement from the party came a day after it was reported that the BJP and the Janata Dal (United) have reached the seat-sharing deal. The official announcement on the coalition, seats and candidates will be made on Tuesday in Bihar's capital Patna, the sources said on Monday.
The JD(U) will reportedly contest on 122 seats while the BJP will fight the election on the remaining 121 seats. The JD(U) with its give five of its seats to Jitan Ram Majhi's Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) and BJP with share and give seats to the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) of Mukesh Nishad, the sources said.
Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by former Bollywood set designer Mukesh Sahni, who wields some influence on fellow 'Mallah' caste in some pockets, has earlier deserted the grand alliance.
On the other hand, after walking out of the NDA in Bihar, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Chirag Paswan targeted Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and appealed to people against voting for Kumar's JD(U). Chirag Paswan claimed that an alliance of his party and the BJP will come to power in the state after the Assembly polls.
In an open letter, Chirag Paswan told the voters of Bihar that a vote for the Janata Dal (United) will force the migration of their children in future as he sought their support for his party candidates in the three-phase poll starting October 28.
On Sunday, the LJP decided to put up its candidates against the JD(U) citing "ideological differences" with the party to assert that it will not accept Kumar's leadership of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Notably, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the principal member of the NDA and it has already announced Kumar as the leader of the bloc in the state.
