New Delhi, Oct 29 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah has firmly dispelled speculation surrounding the leadership of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, declaring that the coalition will contest the forthcoming assembly elections under the stewardship of incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

“There is no vacancy for CM in Bihar; there is no confusion here. We are fighting the election under the leadership of Nitish Kumar,” HM Shah declared while speaking in a TV 18 news channel programme on Wednesday.

The remarks come amid mounting political rhetoric, particularly from opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav, who recently described Kumar as a “puppet” of the BJP and predicted that the saffron party would sideline him post-election.

HM Shah, however, dismissed such claims and aimed at what he termed the “dynastic politics” of the Mahagathbandhan.

“Lalu ji wants his son to become CM, and Sonia ji wants her son to become PM. I want to tell them both that there is no space available for either of the sons in Bihar or in Delhi. There’s Modi ji, and in Bihar there is Nitish Kumar ji,” he said.

HM Shah also highlighted the achievements of the “double-engine” government led by PM Modi and Kumar, citing the distribution of free food grains to over 85 million people and the opening of 6.6 crore bank accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana.

He credited Kumar with liberating Bihar from the grip of “jungle raj” over the past 11 years.

He said Bihar has witnessed tremendous progress in the last 11 years under the “double-engine” government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar.

With the Bihar assembly elections scheduled in two phases on 6 and 11 November, and results to be declared on 14 November, HM Shah’s endorsement of Kumar appears to signal a unified front within the NDA.

As the campaign intensifies, the battle lines are drawn between continuity and change, with Nitish Kumar’s leadership at the heart of the contest.

–IANS

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