Nitish to lead NDA in Bihar polls, says Amit Shah

Putting all speculations to rest, BJP president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday categorically reiterated that the ensuing Bihar Assembly elections in 2020 will be contested under the leadership of JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar.

“Our relationship with the JD(U) is intact. And no misinformation campaign can drive a wedge between the two alliance partners in the state,” said Shah, while addressing a BJP rally in the favour of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Vaishali.

This was Shah’s first public meeting in Bihar after taking over as Union Home Minister. “The Congress and its alliance partners have been spreading canards about the CAA and indulging in violence in different parts of the country. But let me reiterate that the new legislation grants citizenship, not takes away from anybody. Besides Congress and its allies, leaders like Mamata Banerjee have been also indulging in the misinformation campaign,” said Shah, at the BJP’s first rally in North Bihar in an election year.

Bihar is slated to have Assembly polls in October and November this year.

Shah came down heavily on JNU students and said those who shouted “Bharat tere tukde honge hazaar” were sent to jail but the Delhi government headed by Arvind Kejriwal has refused to initiate prosecution.

Shah’s rally in favour of CAA on Thursday coincided with Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Yadav’s protest march against the CAA, which started from Muslim-dominated Kishanganj.

“Amit Shah should first convince Nitish Kumar on the issue of CAA, NRC and NPR, before trying to convince people of Bihar,” said Tejashwi, during his address at Kishanganj, bordering West Bengal.

Notably, Nitish recently made it clear that he won’t implement NRC in Bihar as “there was neither any need nor any justification for NRC in Bihar or anywhere else in the country.”