No ifs and buts, Nitish Kumar will be the Bihar Chief Minister: BJP

The poor performance by JD (U) sparked rumours that BJP may opt for its own Chief Minister

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which emerged as the single largest party within the NDA by wresting 74 seats, on Wednesday put at rest all speculations on who will be the next Chief Minister of Bihar.

“It was a public commitment made by the party’s top leadership that Nitish Kumar will be the Chief Minister of Bihar, no matter who wins how many seats. There are no ifs and buts about the chief-ministership,” said senior BJP leader and Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi in Patna on Wednesday.

Ever since the JD (U) was relegated as the junior partner after it won merely 43 seats, there were rumours that the BJP may opt for its own Chief Minister and ask Nitish to play an active role at the Centre.

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But Sushil Modi, Nitish’s trusted lieutenant in the BJP, put a lid on all such speculations. The Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal too concurred with Modi and asserted that “it (Nitish’s coronation) was a well settled issue.”

Meanwhile, Modi did admit that the LJP damaged the NDA prospects in general and JD (U) in particular. “Had the LJP not fielded so many rebels, the JD (U) might have won 25 to 30 seats more and the NDA tally would have easily crossed 150. The LJP damaged the BJP too in some of the constituencies,” conceded Modi.

On the LJP’s continuation as an NDA ally, Modi said that it is for the BJP top leadership to take a call on the issue.