Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met in Patna on Thursday along with top leaders of the two parties to finalise the seat-sharing arrangement within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
Although the meeting lasted around 20 minutes, both parties refrained from making any official statements. However, it is widely believed that discussions focused on the possible distribution of assembly seats among NDA allies, including the JDU, BJP, and smaller partner parties, amid ongoing suspense.
Also present at the meeting were JDU’s working president Sanjay Jha, JDU leader and Bihar minister Vijay Choudhary, BJP’s Bihar in-charge Vinod Tawde, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Samrat Choudhary, Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal, former Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal, and the party’s state organisational general secretary Bhikhubhai Dalsania.
On Wednesday night, Amit Shah had held a separate meeting with senior BJP leaders from Bihar.
Later, addressing party leaders and workers from 20 districts at events in Dehri and Begusarai, Shah aimed to energise the BJP cadre. He urged voters to align Bihar’s future with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision. While praising Nitish Kumar’s governance, he launched a strong attack on Rahul Gandhi over the ongoing ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’.
Speaking to party workers in Dehri, Shah said: “This election is not just about forming a government in Bihar but about securing a two-thirds majority for the NDA. In the previous election, we received fewer seats in this region. Today, we must all resolve that over 80% of seats in Shahabad should go to the BJP or its allies. For that, we need to work hard.”
Urging BJP workers to intensify their campaign efforts, he said: “From today, all workers must pledge that under Modi Ji’s leadership, we will form a strong NDA government in Bihar. The good work done by Nitish Kumar and Modi Ji must be taken door-to-door and shared with every voter.”
He launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of misleading the public with his “vote theft” narrative. Shah labeled Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar as a ‘Save the Infiltrators Yatra’. He accused the Congress of ignoring key development issues and instead focusing on protecting illegal infiltrators from Bangladesh.
“They (Congress) keep spreading lies. Rahul Gandhi’s yatra was not about vote theft. It wasn’t about better education, employment, electricity, or roads. The real agenda was to protect infiltrators from Bangladesh. Is that what the people of Bihar care about?” he questioned.
Shah told party workers that the BJP’s majority in the upcoming Assembly elections will be so decisive that next time Tejashwi Yadav won’t even have the courage to contest the elections.