Bihar Assembly Elections 2025| 'Bihar CM's post not vacant': BJP’s Sanjay Jaiswal dismisses Tejashwi's job promise as 'joke'

The four-time MP and former president of the Bihar unit, is confident of NDA romping home and retaining power in the State.

Bettiah: As the Bihar Assembly elections head towards a crucial phase, with campaigning picking up, BJP strategist Sanjay Jaiswal, four-time MP and former president of the Bihar unit, is confident of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) romping home and retaining power in the State.

In an interview with DH, Jaiswal said the NDA's victory will be "more than expected" as it will be driven by the public's faith in the works of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and incumbent Chief Nitish Kumar.

He termed RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s promise of a job for every family in Bihar as a "non-serious" joke that threatens the existing government welfare schemes. The BJP veteran defended the NDA not naming its chief ministerial candidate by stating that Nitish Kumar’s position is not vacant.

Q) How is the election campaign going? How have things been in the region?
A) Champaran has been a BJP bastion for the last 30 years. Last time, we won eight out of nine seats (in West Champaran). This time, we are hoping that we will win all nine seats in this district and also all 21 (in the undivided Champaran). People are happy with the work of Narendra Modi ji and Nitish Kumar ji. And it is showing on the roads. The public is enthusiastic... They all have full faith in Modi and Nitish...I am sure the results will be more than what people are expecting.

Q) Tejashwi Yadav, the chief ministerial face of the Mahagathbandhan, has promised to provide one government job for every family in the State. What is your reaction? 

A) The Central government roughly has 30 lakh jobs across the country. The State government has another 24 lakhs. Promising jobs for 2.7 crore people in Bihar simply means you are a non-serious person. Secondly, you are more interested in stopping the benefit schemes running in Bihar. Because the way you are saying everybody will get a government job, people will not be able to get 5 kg of free foodgrains they are getting at present. They will not be eligible for the Ayushman Bharat Yojana. They will not be eligible for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and the Shauchalay Yojana.

These are provided for the poor. You are saying something that is not possible and are simultaneously trying to end all these beneficial schemes...This is some kind of a joke. You are saying you are the face of the Mahagathbandhan. I feel sorry for Pawan Khera (Congress) and Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI-ML(L)), who were standing behind him. And they don't know what they were saying. And that's the reason even the RJD has no faith in Tejashwi Yadav. I am saying so because if you see the manifesto, it says Tejashwi's 'Pran'. It's not a Mahagathbandhan manifesto. It's not an RJD manifesto. It has been made and projected as Tejashwi Yadav's manifesto. They all know they will not be able to fulfil the promises. They are just doing it for the sake of getting votes. 

Q) You said it is Tejashwi's 'Pran' and not RJD 'Pran'. Isn't it another way of saying that probably all the Mahagathbandhan parties are rallying behind Tejashwi?

A) If they had rallied behind him, they would have known what was in the manifesto. How can you say it is Tejashwi's manifesto when all allies are standing together? That means even those who are standing next to you do not believe in your election manifesto. Whenever there is an election, there is a UPA or I.N.D.I.A. manifesto or a Congress manifesto or an RJD manifesto. But for the first time, we are seeing a manifesto named after a person. So it's only a personal warranty or unsuccessful guarantee of Tejashwi Yadav. Tomorrow, the RJD will say we are not responsible for whatever has been said by Tejashwi.  

Q) We saw Rahul Gandhi beginning his election campaign in Bihar, and on the very first day, he said, 'If you request PM Modi to dance for votes, he will do it. Make him do anything you want now because he won't be seen after the election.' Your reactions?

A) Rahul Gandhi is our star campaigner, I must admit it. Whenever he opens his mouth, he increases our votes. We are thankful that he is here. Previously, when he came here, he was talking about 'vote chori'. We did not hear a single word on 'vote chori' this time. So, he also doesn't know what he is saying. Tejashwi and Rahul both don't believe what they are saying, and they know very well that nobody believes them... They are both non-serious political persons.

Q) The Opposition parties are asking who is your chief ministerial face. Why hasn't the BJP or the NDA officially declared Nitish Kumar as their CM candidate? 
A) Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the Chief Minister's position is not vacant...Neither the PM's post is vacant... We are clearly saying that from 2025 to 2030, there will be a combination of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar in Bihar and in the country. We are pretty sure, going by the kind of response we are getting from the public. And it's very interesting that even after 20 years, there's no anti-incumbency against this government. And because of what (RJD leader) Lalu Yadav's family has done, people are never going to forgive them.

Q) Are you saying that Nitish Kumar is officially the CM candidate of the NDA?

A) We are all saying that. There's no problem. Legally, the MLAs who get elected will choose the CM. So, there's nothing wrong in saying this. And there's nothing wrong in saying that. There's no vacancy for the chief ministership. Nitish is there. Nitish will be there. There's no doubt about it.

Q) You have been the BJP State president. In your own constituency, you said you are confident that almost all the seats will be won by the NDA. What is your assessment for the entire Bihar?

A) I'm sure the same thing will happen in Bihar. I've visited many constituencies during NDA meetings...The crowd is enthusiastic. Everybody wants this government to continue. And you win elections by fulfilling promises. I think this is the first time we have fulfilled the promises and are going for the elections.We had said we would be giving 125 units of free electricity. We have done that. Ninety-four lakh people who are from BPL families have been provided Rs 2 lakh each for their employment.

For the first time, we had said that Central government schemes will be continued, especially the 5 kg free ration, increasing old age pension, and including everyone under Ayushman Bharat. These are the things which a political party should promise. We fulfilled these and are facing the election. On the ground, every person in Bihar is a beneficiary, including myself, because the 125-unit free electricity scheme is for each and every citizen of Bihar. It's not like the Delhi model, where if you use 126 units, then you have to pay the whole bill. As much as 90 per cent of the population is getting free electricity, and they are going to vote for the NDA.

Q) In Delhi, it was 200 units of free power, and if you consume 201 units, you have to pay for all the units. I think it's the same in the current BJP regime there. The free power scheme and all those you mentioned, how different are they from the 'revdi' culture that the Prime Minister Modi once spoke about?

A) We are passing on financial benefits to people. It's Modinomics, where you provide financial benefits to poor people. They will buy something in the market that will generate GST. For the first time, we are seeing the prices of motorcycles, cars, air-conditioners and refrigerators reducing. And Modi ji believes that if you give money to people, it will recirculate in the economy, and the economy will benefit. And this is a cyclical thing that will boost manufacturing. 

Q) The BJP and the NDA have repeatedly raised the issue of 'jungle raj' (lawlessness). And this was raised in the previous elections as well. Even though your party has been in power for nearly two decades, discounting two or three years, do you think that the State or the young aspirational Bihari voters will relate to this jungle raj narrative? They might not have any memory of that? 

A) Be it any civilisation, if they forget their past, they are never going to build their future. In Bihar, the people who were there before 2005 are still there as the main Opposition party. And they haven't changed their culture. This year, when there was a national executive and a new national president was being elected in the RJD, the last words uttered by Tejashwi Yadav were 'Shahabuddin amar rahe' and 'Taslimuddin amar rahein'. You are trying to revive the things that were pre-2005. And you are asking us why we are saying that. If you are a new generation, you should have said, 'Sorry. Whatever happened before 2005 was wrong. You don't agree to that.' You have given the ticket to the son of Shahabuddin (late Mohammad Shahabuddin, a gangster-turned-politician) who has been involved in all kinds of wrongdoings... So you haven't changed your mentality.

Q) What's your message to the voters? Should they vote on the basis of the credentials of the individual candidates or on the BJP's idea of good governance as being championed by Prime Modi or should they vote for the sushasan model that has been at the forefront of the Bihar government for the last 15-20 years?

A) Vote for Narendra Modi ji and Nitish Kumar. Candidates don't matter...We need MLAs from the NDA, only then we will be able to provide all the benefits, all the new industrial parks that we have planned. So vote for the party. Party is more important than the candidate.

Q) You faced some extortion demands. You are a powerful person, being a four-time MP and a very important person in the BJP. Still, extortion demands were made from you. What would you say about that? Even though those people have been arrested, but still...

A) The difference between what is a jungle raj and what is a welfare state is that wherever a crime happens, or if it is going to happen, the criminals are nabbed within no time. You cannot stop all the crimes...but if it has happened, criminals have been caught within 24 to 48 hours and the law has been restored. I got a call, and within 24 hours, every culprit got arrested.

That's the difference between this and what we call the jungle raj. I still remember when a person got kidnapped from my district, the ransom was paid at the CM's house, and the SP was called on a hotline and told not to arrest the kidnappers. This is the difference between an RJD government rule and an NDA government rule.