Amid speculations about the likely return of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish to its former ally, the BJP, the saffron party’s national president JP Nadda on Thursday stated clearly that the return of Kumar and his party – Janata Dal (United) to the BJP-led NDA was impossible.
Nadda lauded Bihar BJP president Samrat Choudhary for having said in his speech that the party no longer wanted to “carry others on our shoulders”, an obvious reference to Nitish Kumar who had quit the NDA last year.
He was speaking at an event to commemorate the centenary of Kailashpati Mishra, one of BJP veterans from Bihar. Several other leaders, including Union ministers like Giriraj Singh and Nityanand Rai also addressed the function.
The party national president also said that the BJP will win all 40 Lok Sabha seats from Bihar in the elections that are scheduled to held likely in April-May next year. He also asserted that the party will form the government alone in the Assembly elections in 2025, reports The Hindu.
Nadda also asserted that his party always stood for the upliftment of the backward Classes and charged Congress alleging that it “slept on” the Mandal Commission’s recommendations. The remarks come three days after the Nitish Kumar government came out with a caste survey that revealed more than 60 per cent of the population was from Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes.
He said, “Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi chose to sleep on the Mandal Commission report and it was not until VP Singh formed a government with the help of the BJP that its recommendations were implemented”.
“The Congress-led UPA remained in power for two consecutive terms, with Lalu Prasad’s RJD as a key ally. But the National Commission for OBCs was not granted constitutional status until Narendra Modi formed his government at the Centre,” Nadda added, as quoted by PTI.