NDA leaders meeting in Patna, what was Nitish's message to the allies?

NDA Meeting / NDA leaders meeting in Patna, what was Nitish's message to the allies?

NDA Meeting - NDA leaders meeting in Patna, what was Nitish's message to the allies?

NDA Meeting: There is a lot of election activity in the political corridors of Bihar at this time. After joining the NDA once again, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is emphasizing on strengthening the foundation of unity in the alliance for the upcoming assembly elections. Learning from the experiences of the previous elections, Nitish has said that this time the NDA meetings need to be organized from booth to state level. He believes that there should be a picture of a clear and united alliance in front of the public, which will send the message that there is no difference of opinion in the NDA.

Lesson of 2020 elections

JDU's seats were reduced to 43 in the 2020 assembly elections. The pain of this defeat is still a lesson for JDU leaders. Nitish Kumar believes that Chirag Paswan played an important role in this decline, whose party took an aggressive stand against JDU and the BJP did not make a concrete effort to stop it. Nitish now suspects that the BJP wanted to come to the driving seat at that time, which caused instability within his party.

JDU's new relationship with NDA and old concerns

JDU left NDA in 2022 and formed an alliance with RJD, but this relationship did not last long. Nitish returned to NDA after just one and a half years, which brought uncertainty in his image. This time Nitish is trying to build a strong rapport with all the constituent parties of NDA. In Bihar, together with BJP, he aims to strengthen his position in the 2025 elections.

However, BJP is also not showing as much tolerance towards Nitish Kumar as before. After the Lok Sabha elections, BJP made it clear that Nitish will be the face for the post of Chief Minister in the 2025 assembly elections. Also, LJP (Ram Vilas) has also adopted a reconciliatory attitude towards Nitish, but it remains to be seen how much BJP workers and supporters will be able to accept this new equation.

Contradictions within the alliance

At present, NDA includes BJP, JDU, LJP (Ram Vilas), Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha. A major concern for Nitish Kumar regarding the 2025 strategy is that the influence of RJD, Congress, Left and other smaller parties has increased in the Mahagathbandhan, which can make the contest in the assembly difficult. The Mahagathbandhan is attracting the youth on the issue of jobs, which Tejashwi Yadav is referring to.

Anti-incumbency and rise of young leadership

Having been in the post of Chief Minister for 19 years, Nitish Kumar is now also facing anti-incumbency. It has been seen that leaders like Mukesh Sahni and Left parties are standing strongly with Tejashwi Yadav. In the last elections, the inclination of the youth towards Tejashwi was also seen.

This time Nitish, along with his team, is trying to connect the NDA constituents in every district so that the alliance can be strengthened.

Growing contradictions and electoral challenge in NDA

There are also differences within the NDA on issues like UCC and prohibition. Internal opposition was also seen on sending the Waqf Amendment Bill to JPC. Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar and BJP do not agree on many issues, which is a matter of concern for the alliance.

An important challenge that Nitish Kumar still has is to unite the interests of every constituent party of the NDA.

Efforts for unity at the lower level

This time Nitish called all the MPs, MLAs, MLCs and district presidents together and emphasized on the unity of the NDA. Nitish believes that learning from the 2020 election results, it is necessary to save the alliance from any kind of division.

Falling graph of JDU and emergence of new options

The falling graph of JDU seats is also a matter of concern for Nitish. Prashant Kishore's Jan Suraj Party can also become a new challenge against Nitish. It is being said that Prashant Kishore can come forward in the role of Chirag Paswan, who can take BJP voters away from JDU. This is the reason why Nitish is trying to keep every constituent party of NDA united this time so that any kind of dissatisfaction does not go against him.

Focus of the election campaign

Nitish Kumar has decided to campaign in the name of "NDA Government" instead of "Nitish Government" in the upcoming elections. Nitish believes that this strategy will send a message of NDA unity to the voters and help in sidelining internal opposition.

Conclusion

Nitish Kumar is more afraid of electoral defeat this time. He has decided to maintain unity with the NDA constituent parties so that the message of the strength of the alliance reaches the public. Nitish Kumar knows that this time the election will decide his political future, so he is making every possible effort to maintain unity with all his constituent parties.