While singing Nitish's praises, Rajnath hints at him being the CM face in Bihar elections

Patna: Senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday showered encomiums on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and credited him for bringing Bihar back on the fast track of development.

“It was Nitish’s vision and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unconditional support to him that Bihar has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. I am sure under the leadership of both, the NDA will storm to power again in November 2025 Assembly polls,” said Rajnath, who was here in Patna to attend the BJP’s State Working Committee meeting at Gyan Bhavan in the State Capital.

Rajnath’s statement assumes significance in the sense that he is one of the senior-most BJP leaders who enjoys a good personal equation with Nitish.

It was Rajnath, who, in November 2020, persuaded Nitish to take over the mantle as CM again when the JD (U) chief was reluctant to do so after his party was relegated to the third position with the JD (U) winning only 43 seats in the 243-member Assembly.

It was Rajnath, who, as the BJP top leadership’s emissary, was sent to Bihar in November 2020 to persuade Nitish that he cannot have Sushil Modi as his Deputy CM, something unimaginable till then.

Nitish, Modi, bonhomie

Against this backdrop, and with Rajnath praising Nitish, the JD (U) is elated with the party headquarters plastered with posters of both Nitish and Narendra Modi in the same frame.

“People have implicit trust in Nitish, while PM Modi oozes confidence,” said JD (U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar, explaining the rationale behind Modi and Nitish in the same frame of JD (U) posters.

“We all have seen the lantern era,” said Rajnath, in an oblique reference to the Lalu-Rabri regime “where loot, massacre, lawlessness made the headlines.

"The lantern is now flickering. Ensure such people do not come to power again,” said the Defence Minister.

He asked the BJP workers to “reach every household in every booth in Bihar and explain what kind of massive development had taken place in the field of roads, health and power under Nitish’s leadership and what kind of Bihar was during the Lalu regime.”

Since the BJP has so far refrained from naming Nitish as the next CM candidate, Rajnath praising Nitish profusely has boosted the morale of JD (U) which has indicated that they won’t compromise on Nitish name as the Chief Minister, should NDA return to power.