NEW DELHI: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) finds itself in a political dilemma over whether to officially declare Nitish Kumar as the next Chief Ministerial face of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar.
With just a week left before the first phase of polling, mounting pressure from Janata Dal (United) [JDU] supporters and internal confusion within the alliance have forced the BJP’s top leadership to reconsider its strategy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to address a series of election rallies in Bihar in the coming days, is expected to make a crucial announcement regarding the leadership issue.
According to senior party insiders, Modi may formally endorse Nitish Kumar as the NDA’s CM face to quell growing unrest among JDU cadres and to project a united front.
Sources within the BJP’s election team admit that “serious confusion” has surfaced between the party workers and JDU supporters across several constituencies. The discontent reportedly stems from BJP’s earlier reluctance to project Nitish Kumar, leading to visible resentment at the grassroots level.
Reports suggest that JDU supporters have largely been absent from joint campaign events, signalling their disappointment. The JDU sources say Nitish Kumar will not attend the rally to be addressed by the Prime Minister on October 30 to register his protest.
Sensing the unease, Union Home Minister Amit Shah sought to ease tensions on Wednesday by clarifying that “the posts of Prime Minister and Chief Minister are not vacant — Modi ji is in Delhi, and Nitish ji is in Bihar.” His remark was seen as a calibrated attempt to restore confidence among JDU ranks and bridge the growing divide within the NDA.
However, sources in Patna indicated that the BJP’s central election team remains divided. One section fears that announcing Nitish Kumar could alienate sections of BJP’s own cadre, while others believe that denying him the CM face tag could cost the alliance heavily in a close contest.
A senior strategist in Patna revealed that the final call might rest with the Prime Minister himself. “Either Modi ji will cancel his proposed Bihar visit, or he will use the rally to make a decisive statement — declaring Nitish Kumar as the CM candidate, regardless of how many seats JDU wins,” the strategist said. A clear position Modi can take to veto the postion taken by Amit Shah about the CM face will be selected by newly elected MLAs.
As Bihar inches closer to polling day, the BJP’s balancing act between alliance arithmetic and leadership optics could prove decisive for the NDA’s electoral fate.
[Writer is Senior Journalist and Political Commentator]
