Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Wednesday termed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as deserving candidates for the Bharat Ratna award.
Singh mentioned the contributions of the two leaders: “Nitish Kumar has worked tirelessly for the development of Bihar, while Naveen Patnaik has dedicated years to serving Odisha. Such individuals should be given national recognition.”
Besides stating this on the awards, he sounded confident in a National Democratic Alliance government’s formation in Bihar under the leadership of Kumar: “The NDA will once again govern Bihar. Many of today’s youths, now in their thirties, have never experienced the jungle raj of Lalu Prasad Yadav,” he said.
This feeling was variously shared by Union Minister and JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh, who on Sunday said the NDA would contest the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar. “In the next election, the NDA will contest unitedly under the leadership of Nitish Kumar,” Singh told ANI.
In Bihar, the ruling NDA coalition, comprising BJP, JD(U), LJP-Ram Vilas, and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), put up a good show in the recent Lok Sabha elections. After a tactical switch, Nitish Kumar had dissolved the Mahagath bandhan government barely some months in advance to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and formed one again with the BJP.
While the JD(U) has 48 seats, the BJP is the senior partner in the Bihar Assembly with 84 seats. Elections to the 243 assembly seats in Bihar are due later in 2025.
