Bihar assembly election 2025: Purnia MP Pappu Yadav said the Congress party can give what Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar deserves, claiming that the BJP and Chirag Paswan are plotting to oust the JD(U) leader. He said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is isolating Nitish Kumar, and the CM might leave the coalition post Bihar election.
Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and the BJP are contesting Bihar assembly election on 101 seats each being the two biggest and most significant parties of the bloc.
“The way BJP and Chirag Paswan have isolated Nitish Kumar to maintain their strike rate, I don’t think Nitish Kumar will remain in the NDA after the elections. Only Congress will give Nitish Kumar the respect he deserves,” Pappu Yadav added.
VIDEO | Patna: Purnia MP Pappu Yadav says, "The way BJP and Chirag Paswan have isolated Nitish Kumar to maintain their strike rate, I don't think Nitish Kumar will remain in the NDA after the elections. Only Congress will give Nitish Kumar the respect he deserves."… pic.twitter.com/VNTuNrdquv
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 21, 2025
Reacting to the reports of rift in the NDA, “The alliance between the BJP and Chirag is going on, but Nitish hasn’t gone along with them so far. They are trying to isolate Nitish and are busy with their own strategies. Do you think they will stay with him after the elections? Don’t worry, only the Congress will honor Nitish. Don’t worry about that,” he added.
The NDA trouble
While the NDA coalition announced its seat-sharing way in advance after the announcement of Bihar election dates, and the constituent parties also declared names of candidates – the reports of the rift within the alliance continued to float. The biggest objections were reportedly from Chirag Paswan’s LJP (RV), Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM.
Though they said all is well, reports stated otherwise. But it seemed they respected the alliance dharma – no one said anybody was unhappy.
Patna, Bihar: On the rift in the NDA, Purnea MP Pappu Yadav says, “The alliance between the BJP and Chirag is going on, but Nitish hasn’t gone along with them so far. They are trying to isolate Nitish and are busy with their own strategies. Do you think they will stay with him… pic.twitter.com/xjGRBqkZzO
— IANS (@ians_india) October 21, 2025
The parties had to sacrifice on their demands due to seat-allocation to other parties. Chirag Paswan got 29 seats against a demand of 40, while HAM and RLM got 6 each against a demand of 8 seats.
Nitish vs Chirag
In the 2020 Bihar election, Chirag Paswan contested alone, working as a vote-cutter for many as the JD(U) could win only 43 seats, down from 71 in 2015. And the situation was bad for the LJP (RV) which fought on 137 seats and won only one.
He had then called himself PM Narendra Modi’s “hanuman”. “I am Prime Minister Modi’s Hanuman…the PM lives in my heart.” The aim is to weaken the JDU and maintain warmth with the BJP, all while Nitish Kumar kept switching sides.
Hence, it is a task for the NDA to make both JD(U), LJP (RV) walk the same road.