Patna: Amid prevailing suspense over the next Bihar CM, Union minister and LJP (RV) president Chirag Paswan on Monday said the NDA partners in Bihar have almost reached a consensus on the issue and that a formal announcement would be made shortly. Stating that he was not in the race, he said the next CM must be from the BJP.Talking to reporters at Patna airport, Chirag said the issue of the CM has almost been settled during discussions among all five NDA allies and a formal announcement remains just a matter of time.
“Who will be the CM, which party he will be from and who will be the deputy CM — almost everything has been finalised and a formal announcement to this effect will be made very soon,” Chirag told reporters in Patna. He added the new govt would hugely benefit from the rich and vast experience of CM Nitish Kumar.Chirag, who later reached Hajipur, his political constituency, to meet a bereaved family that lost four members in a shocking incident, described himself as out of the chief ministerial race in Bihar while strongly backing a chief minister from the BJP.“Aaj ki tarikh mein gathbandhan ke bhitar BJP ka Mukhya Mantri ho, ye ham jaroor chahte hain (As of today, we definitely want a Chief Minister from the BJP within the alliance),” Chirag told the media in Hajipur, stating, “Main is race mein na tha na hun (I was neither in the race nor am).”The BJP, with 89 seats in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, is the single-largest party in the state. The saffron party contested elections on 101 seats and won 89. The JD(U), on the other hand, won 85 seats after contesting the same number of seats — 101.Even a week after Nitish was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, intense speculation continues over who will be the CM with various names being suggested from the BJP. What has further fuelled this speculation was Nitish placing his hands on the shoulders of some leaders on the dais during his ongoing Samriddhi Yatra that he still leads.On Monday, he embarked on the fifth phase of his Samriddhi Yatra, a week after he was nominated to the Upper House of Parliament along with four other NDA leaders. Interestingly, Nitish has never discussed his Rajya Sabha nomination during the yatra, although his cabinet colleagues and party leaders have hinted about his Upper House berth, adding to the suspense.Chirag, however, referred to the deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary model in Patna but did not elaborate much. “Samrat Choudhary is carrying a big responsibility on his shoulders as a home minister, but in what role his model will be seen in future, only time will say,” Chirag said.
