Despite bagging the most number of seats in the alliance, the BJP has decided to back Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister of Bihar, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself endorsing his leadership at a public function at the BJP headquarters here on Wednesday.

The BJP parliamentary board was to meet to ratify the decision. “All of us in the BJP are committed under Nitish Kumar’s leadership in Bihar to not leave any stone unturned in fulfilling our promises to the people who have reposed faith in us,” said Modi.

Nitish Kumar, on his part, tweeted his response, thanking the PM for his support. “People are our masters. We are grateful to the voters for giving their mandate to the NDA. I thank the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his continuing support.”

The process of the BJP-JD(U) alliance staking claim and a formal correspondence with the Governor will commence after the BJP’s parliamentary board gives its approval. According to a BJP leader, the oath-taking ceremony for Nitish Kumar’s fourth term as CM will happen only after Diwali.

Meanwhile, Modi did not hesitate to underline that unlike previous elections when Nitish had the upper hand in Bihar, the BJP was the dominant player in the State now.

 

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In expansion mode

He said the BJP is the only party that is expanding across the country and has increased its seats in Bihar. The party’s sweep of 41 of the 59 seats that came up for by-elections held across 11 States was a validation of the Centre’s record of governance as also the handling of the Covid pandemic, he said.

The BJP won 74 seats in Bihar and the JD(U) 43. Along with allies HAM and VIP, the BJP-led alliance has 125 seats, three above the majority mark of 122 in the 243-member Assembly.

The Mahagathbandhan lost the race with the RJD winning 75 seats, Congress 19 and the Left parties 14 seats respectively. The PM heaped scorn on the Congress and other such “family oriented parties” which, he said, were “dangerous for democracy”.

 

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