'For now, Nitish Kumar is the ‘dulha’ of the NDA': Chirag Paswan

Chirag Paswan

LJP (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan unequivocally stated the way the opposition INDIA bloc succumbed within the alliance has increased the strength of the NDA.

Speaking to TOI, Paswan said the NDA will achieve the target of 160+ set by union Home Minister Amit Shah and are trying to reach the goal of winning 225 seats in the upcoming assembly polls.

Talking about NDA's campaign, he said the NDA constituents are working in a unified manner and the campaign will gather pace post Chhath.  Speaking to the same publication, he Outlined LJP's strategy and reaffirmed that the fight is for the bigger goal of Bihar -- 'Bihar First, Bihar First'. Paswan reiterated that he doesn't have anything against Nitish Kumar.

Bihar appears to be again headed for a straight and fierce contest between the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), much like what happened during the 2020 Assembly elections. Last time, both the alliances was merely 0.03.

Under the seat-sharing arrangement, the JD(U) and the BJP will contest 101 seats each, while Paswan’s LJP (R) has been given 29 seats. The smaller allies, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) , will contest six seats each.

For the first time since Nitish Kumar came to power in 2005, the JD(U) is not the senior partner in seat distribution. In 2020, it contested 115 seats against the BJP’s 110.

In 2010, the ratio was 141 to 102 and in the 2005 elections, the JD(U) contested 139 seats to the BJP’s 102. Even in Lok Sabha elections, JD(U) had held an advantage, contesting 24 seats to BJP’s 16 in 2004, 25 to 15 in 2009, and reaching parity at 17 each only in 2019. In 2024, JD(U) slipped slightly, contesting 16 seats to BJP’s 17.

Earlier on Monday, speaking on the declaration of individual candidate by the constituents of Grand Alliance, Paswan slammed the opposition's grand alliance or Mahagathbandhan saying that there is no such thing called ‘friendly’ fights.

‘Friendly’ fight is often referred to contests in which the alliance-partners field multiple candidates but actually support one party's candidate behind the scenes. Paswan's remarks came on the last day of nomination process for the second phase of the Bihar Assembly elections and as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) released its list of 143 candidates, effectively concluding prolonged seat-sharing talks within the Mahagathbandhan alliance.