Will contest Bihar election under Nitish’s leadership but BJP parliamentary board will decide CM’s name, says Bihar BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal

Bihar BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal discusses chief ministerial candidate selection process for upcoming Assembly election in Bihar.

Bihar BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal on Friday (February 28, 2025) said the party’s parliamentary board will decide the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Assembly election in the State as per the procedures of the party.

He, however, pointed out that there should be no confusion that the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would contest the election under the leadership of Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar.

On the other hand, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said Mr. Kumar would not become the Chief Minister again. He said the JD(U) would collapse soon as most of its MLAs had entered into secret deals with the BJP.

The election to the 243-seat Bihar Assembly is due later this year.

On the first day of the Budget session on Friday (February 28, 2025), when the media asked Mr. Jaiswal about the chief ministerial face for the election, he said, “The CM face will be decided at the parliamentary board meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party.”

On February 25, Mr. Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar said the NDA should declare his father the chief ministerial candidate ahead of the Assembly election.

After the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bihar, there has been apprehension among the JD(U) leaders that Mr. Modi had not uttered a word about Mr. Kumar leading the State again. Mr. Modi only called him ladla (beloved) CM of Bihar on the stage.