Bihar Assembly Election 2025: The Bihar assembly elections are six months away and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is trying its best to keep its flock together. After the initial rumblings after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remark over the Chief Minister face of the alliance, now, it’s Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini who has sparked a row. 

While speaking at an event in Haryana, Saini said that Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary would “hoist the flag of victory” in the upcoming Assembly elections — a statement that left the party rushing to contain the fallout.

The comment was quickly seized upon by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which urged Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) to seek clarity from its alliance partner, the BJP, over Saini’s remarks.

The event where Saini made the comment was attended by several senior NDA leaders, including Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, former Maharashtra Deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal, and Rajya Sabha members Upendra Kushwaha and Kalpana Saini.

Though the statement caused a stir in Bihar, the BJP’s Haryana unit refrained from issuing an official response, and party members downplayed the comment. Sanjay Ahuja, media coordinator for the Haryana BJP, defended the Chief Minister, stating that Saini merely intended to convey that the NDA would once again form the government in Bihar and that the decision on the chief ministerial candidate would be taken collectively by NDA leaders.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders in Bihar reaffirmed their commitment to Nitish Kumar as the face of the NDA in the state. Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal emphasized that the coalition would contest the Assembly elections under Nitish’s leadership, leaving no room for ambiguity.

Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary also stepped in to quell speculation, firmly stating that he was not in the race for the top post. “Nitish Kumar remains the sole leader of our alliance, and the next election will be fought under his leadership,” he said.

While the opposition-led by Tejashwi Yadav has been terming Nitish Kumar unfit and unwell for the top post, experts are of the opinion that the BJP might push for the CM post after the poll results, just like in Maharashtra elections. Since Nitish Kumar’s JDU has been playing a kingmaker for the last four elections, the BJP cannot afford to upset him. The saffron party appears to have taken a safer stand by maintaining that the NDA will be headed by Kumar in the polls. If the NDA retains power, the CM face can be surprising in Bihar and Kumar may see himself being moved to the national politics.

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