Nitish Kumar Will Be CM Again If NDA Wins Bihar, I'm Not Eyeing Deputy Post: Chirag Paswan

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Speaking to CNN-News18, Paswan said rumours about Nitish Kumar's health are being blown out of proportion and are not a concern within the NDA
Nitish Kumar will take oath as the Chief Minister again if the NDA wins the upcoming Bihar elections, Union Minister and LJP leader Chirag Paswan told CNN-News18 in an interview in Patna. Paswan also said he is not interested in becoming Deputy Chief Minister.
This is significant, as there has been considerable speculation over whether the NDA would continue with Nitish Kumar as CM if the alliance wins. 'I am telling you on behalf of the alliance that Nitish Kumar will be the Chief Minister (again)," Paswan told CNN-News18. He said this will be irrespective of how many seats each NDA ally wins. Paswan also reiterated that he wants to contest from an Assembly seat this time, and that his party wants it to be a general seat.
'I am confident that the NDA alliance of five parties is a winning alliance. This time it will be an all-time high historic win for us with more than 225 seats. We have proved ourselves during recent by-polls. We won Belaganj, which the NDA had not won for over three decades," Chirag Paswan said.
'Don't See Myself in Centre': Paswan
Paswan also revealed that CM Nitish Kumar had recently asked him if he was 'serious" about contesting the Assembly election. 'He wanted to know which area or Assembly seat I am looking at. I told him I wanted to, and it was my personal wish. I don't see myself too much in the Centre… my whole purpose of entering politics was for Bihar and Biharis. It is not possible to do it while living in Delhi as a third-time MP. So, it is high time I move back to my state," the Union Minister said.
Paswan, however, made it clear that he was not aiming for any post like Deputy Chief Minister. 'It does not lure me… this urge of holding a post. If that was my priority, I wouldn't have left the alliance in 2020. Now, after our win and as per the strength of the party, everyone will be given their respective role in the government. I am not aiming for a Deputy CM role. If a situation comes, it will be a party member of ours, not me," he said.
Nitish's Health Is Fine: Paswan
Chirag Paswan also told CNN-News18 that talk about Nitish Kumar's health 'is being blown totally out of proportion of what it actually is" and dismissed such rumours. 'If it (Nitish's health) were an issue of concern, we would have discussed it inside the alliance. But it is not a concern," he said.
Paswan laughed when asked how he harmed Nitish Kumar's party in the 2020 elections after contesting outside the NDA alliance. He, however, explained the context and said he has now buried the hatchet with Nitish Kumar. 'Immediately after the 2019 election, I felt my party and I were being cornered in the alliance. This was the time when my father was not keeping well. I was naïve and new, and they thought I wouldn't be able to pull it off like my father did," he said.
'I was not being asked or told things, and not being kept in the loop. I was not given the space. I have issues and concerns now too, but now I have been given the space inside the alliance to voice and address them," Paswan added.
Seat-Sharing And Campaign
Paswan told CNN-News18 that seat-sharing in the NDA in Bihar takes time but is eventually done amicably. 'It will be very wrong on my part if I share any figure with you before I do it inside the alliance," he said, when asked about his party's desired number of seats. He said the LJP has a superb strike rate and won all five Lok Sabha seats it contested a year ago, and hence wishes for a number of seats that reflects its performance. 'That is how it should be. Every ally should get seats as per their strength and winnability factor," Paswan said, laying his case for more seats.
Paswan said he is holding rallies across the state—in Shahbad, Arrah, Rajgir—and will do one in July in Chhapra, followed by Munger and Gaya. 'This is to charge up our voters and make them understand how beneficial this double-engine government is for our state. PM has already visited Bihar seven times," Paswan said.
ECI Campaign
The Election Commission's campaign to revise electoral rolls in Bihar and seek documents from voters has been touted by the Opposition as a move to deprive people of their right to vote. Opposition parties have also moved the ECI against it. 'The Opposition is trying to create a perception in Bihar that what the ECI is doing is like nuisance—so that when they lose the Bihar elections now, they can blame this rather than the EVMs, which is a narrative that did not work," Paswan said.
Paswan said the ECI is following a process that has been done before, and added that he does not understand why the Opposition is making such a big political issue out of it. 'The voter list has to be sanitised at regular intervals. There are some concerns about documents being available or not. But I think the local administration is more than available to help them with it, and we, as a party organisation, are helping the voters with it. We also have concerns about those who are not part of the voter list," Paswan told CNN-News18.
With the NDA gearing up for a high-stakes battle in Bihar, Chirag Paswan's remarks signal a more unified front this time, despite past tensions with Nitish Kumar.
About the Author
Aman Sharma
Aman Sharma, Executive Editor - National Affairs at CNN-News18, and Bureau Chief at News18 in Delhi, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Minister's Office....Read More
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