There is no question of replacing Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister of Bihar, the BJP said today, a day after it one-upped its ally for the first time in elections in the state.
The BJP won 74 of Bihar’s 243 seats, taking the NDA’s tally past the majority mark, while Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United was restricted to 43.
With Nitish Kumar losing Big Brother status in Bihar and the BJP gaining an upper hand for the first time in the state where it has never had a Chief Minister, there have been questions about the top job.
“Nitishji will remain Chief Minister as it was our commitment. There is no confusion on this,” the BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi and Deputy Chief Minister said today.
In an election, he added, “some win more and some win less”. “But we are equal partners,” Sushil Modi said.
The BJP has never ruled Bihar on its own and could not have retained power in the state without Nitish Kumar. But the results give the BJP leverage. Sources say in Nitish Kumar’s fourth term, the balance of power is likely to be different.
A big contributor to the changed equations is Chirag Paswan, an NDA partner who put up candidates against Nitish Kumar’s party and is believed to have caused maximum damage to the Chief Minister
