Union Minister Chirag Paswan has reiterated his support for Nitish Kumar and said that the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader will be chose as Bihar chief minister once again by the elected MLAs after the assembly polls in the state.
In an interview with news agency ANI, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) supremo said he wanted his father, Ram Vilas Paswan, to become a chief minister or the prime minister, stressing that every party wants its leader to become the CM.
"In today's situation, many leaders of the NDA alliance have made it clear that we are contesting the elections under the leadership of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, and after the elections, the elected MLAs will once again choose Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister," he said.
When asked whether he sees himself as a contender for the CM post in Bihar, Paswan said he wants to focus on the state and even wanted to contested the assembly polls, but gave his attention in strengthening the party's candidates this time.
"I have always maintained that I want to focus more on Bihar. I wanted to contest the Bihar elections, but the prolonged negotiations shifted my priority to focusing on the candidates of my party," he told ANI. "In the next four to five years, I will try to focus on Bihar even more."
Paswan's party is part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance that includes the JD-U, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Union Minister Jitam Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).
As per the seat-sharing formula, his party will contest on 29 seats, while the BJP and the JD-U will fight on 101 seats each. The HAM (Secular) and the RLM have been given six seats each. Reportedly, Paswan was demanding 40 to 50 seats, citing his party's performance in 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but later settled for 29 constituencies.
Polling for the two-phase assembly elections will be held on November 6 and 11. The results will be declared on November 14.
