Samastipur (Bihar): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is not losing popularity due to his shifting stance on political alliances and there is no anti-incumbency sentiment against him or the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state, Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told ThePrint.
A two-term Lok Sabha MP from Ujiarpur and MoS in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Rai has been renominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to contest from Ujiarpur which will go to the polls in the fourth phase scheduled for 13 May.
In the interview with ThePrint, Rai ruled out any change in chief minister and called Nitish the alliance leader in Bihar. “There is no discussion of change in the chief minister. There is no question of leadership change. The NDA is in government and Nitish Kumar is our chief minister,” he asserted.
The MoS emphasised that all constituents of the NDA — the BJP, Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) — are on the same page and fighting together as a well-oiled unit to win all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
Asked about speculation that BJP cadres want the party to contest more seats in Bihar, Rai dismissed this as a tactic by the Opposition. “The Grand Alliance, sensing their defeat, is spreading rumors about the NDA, and there is no question of the BJP contesting more seats in this Lok Sabha election,” he clarified.
According to the seat-sharing arrangement of the NDA, of the total 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, the BJP is contesting 17, the JD(U) 16 and Chirag Paswan’s LJP (RV) five.
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‘Grand Alliance losing deposits’
Discussing the trends so far, going by the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections, Rai asserted that the NDA would sweep the state and the Grand Alliance — comprising the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI (ML) and CPI (M) — would lose its deposits in all nine seats that went to the polls in the first two phases.
“Nine Lok Sabha seats went to polls in the first two phases and Grand Alliance is losing deposits in all the constituencies. There is only one name in people’s hearts and that is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is a direct and unbreakable bond between PM Modi and the people of India,” Rai said.
He went on to add that, as far as Nitish Kumar is concerned, “there is no anti-incumbency against him”.
“People have seen the performance of the Lalu-era RJD government and also the NDA, and they can compare for themselves,” he said.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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