Look Forward To Contesting 'LS 2024' And 'Assembly 2025' With JD(U), Says Amit Shah, Even As BJP Covers 200 Assembly Seats In Outreach Programme

Home Minister Amit Shah visited Patna yesterday to preside over the conclusion of a joint national executive of the BJP's seven wings (morchas).

He was joined by BJP president J P Nadda during his visit to Patna. Shah could not meet Chief Minister Nitish Kumar because he is in isolation after having tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

However, Shah tried to calm down the speculations on growing fissures between the two alliance partners- Kumar's Janta Dal (United) and the BJP, by saying that they will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and 2025 assembly elections together.

“The BJP believes in coalition dharma. We are looking forward to contesting the general election and the assembly polls of 2025 in alliance with chief minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U). The NDA alliance in Bihar is here to stay till 2024-2025,” Shah told reporters.

The two-day national executive meeting on 30-31 July was preceded by 48-hour visits of 600 party delegates in 200 of the 243 assembly constituencies which covered 33 of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.

The aim of the exercise was to interact with the local office bearers regarding the achievements of the central and state government. This was to prepare a strategy for both the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections.

However, BJP's outreach was seen as a threat to the JD(U) as some speculated that BJP was trying to cover the whole of Bihar on its own, in preparation for a possible separation from the JD(U).

On this, BJP leader and former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi said that the BJP exercise of strengthening the party in the 200 assembly seats will benefit the alliance as a strong BJP always benefits its allies.

On the other hand, JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan said that there is nothing to be threatened about as every party tries to strengthen itself and JD(U) too will make preparations on all the 243 assembly seats in Bihar.

In the assembly elections held in 2020, Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) emerged as the single largest party by winning 75 seats, while BJP was a close second with 74 seats.

BJP became the bigger partner in the alliance as JD(U) managed to win only 43 seats but Kumar was asked to continue as the CM. However, BJP expects to have its own CM in 2025 as Kumar had said in 2020 that this was his last electoral battle.