Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday launched the JDU’s election campaign with a rally in north Bihar’s Samastipur district, held against the backdrop of a massive hoarding of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Union home minister Amit Shah, who was in Patna on Thursday, said the next chief minister of Bihar, if the NDA returns to power, would be decided by the newly elected MLAs, refusing to unequivocally endorse another term for ally Nitish.

“Who am I to make someone chief minister? For now, the NDA is contesting the Bihar elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar. After the elections, all the allies and the newly elected MLAs would sit and decide the next chief minister,” Shah said in an interview to Hindi news channel Aaj Tak in Patna on Thursday evening.

His answer came in reply to a direct question on whether Nitish would be made chief minister again if the NDA returns to power in the November 6 and 11 elections.

It is widely believed that the BJP, a long-time junior ally of the JDU in Bihar, was aspiring to have its chief minister installed in the traditionally Mandal politics-dominated state. The BJP has never had a chief minister in Bihar.

Shah’s response could be a blow to the JDU, which has been campaigning to make Nitish the chief minister for another term, claiming the BJP was on the same page.

In the interview, Shah recalled how they had made Nitish chief minister after the 2020 Assembly polls despite the BJP winning more seats, while indicating that the same courtesy was unlikely to be extended again.

“In 2020, Nitishji had called Narendra Modi and said that Bihar should have a BJP chief minister as the party has more seats. But we respected our alliance and Nitishji’s seniority and made him CM,” Shah said.

Seeking a record fifth term as chief minister with the BJP’s backing, Nitish on Thursday urged voters to recall his government’s contributions to Bihar’s transformation over the past two decades. He pledged to fast-track the state’s development if returned to power.

The JDU leader hit the campaign trail after days of intense negotiations with his ally over seat-sharing within the NDA. Avoiding any mention of the recent friction, he chose instead to focus on his government’s achievements.

“The condition earlier was so bad that people were afraid to step out after dark. My government was formed on November 24, 2005, and the rule of law was established,” Nitish told the gathering, refraining from using the term “jungle raj” to describe the previous RJD regime.

“We have done so much work — built schools, hospitals and roads, electrified villages…. We will continue our efforts and make Bihar a developed state,” he said.

The JDU has announced candidates for all 101 seats allocated to it under the NDA’s seat-sharing arrangement in Bihar. The BJP’s imprint was evident in Nitish’s list — the JDU fielded only four Muslim candidates this time, less than half of the 10 it had nominated in the previous election. The BJP, contesting an equal
number of 101 seats, has not given a ticket to a single Muslim candidate.

Despite his alliance with the BJP, Nitish has long projected himself as a secular chief minister — focusing on welfare schemes for Muslims and ensuring that major communal clashes did not occur in the state. Sections of Bihar’s 16 per cent Muslim electorate had, in the past, extended support to his party.

The latest candidates list, however, indicates that Nitish may no longer be counting on significant Muslim backing, given his reduced political clout amid the growing dominance of the Modi-Shah-led BJP. Instead, the JDU has concentrated on its traditional social base, fielding 37 OBCs, 22 Extremely Backward Classes and an equal number of upper-caste candidates.

On the campaign trail, Nitish, however, sought to reconnect with Muslim voters. He highlighted his government’s record in maintaining communal harmony, saying: “Earlier, there used to be many communal incidents, but since my government came to power, there has been peace and harmony in the state.”

Tej Pratap nomination

Former Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav, who was recently expelled from the RJD by his father and founding president Lalu Prasad, on Thursday filed his nomination papers from Mahua in Vaishali district.

Additional reporting by PTI