BJP’s Member of Legislative Council, Sanjay Paswan has said that a BJP leader should be made the next Chief Minister of Bihar. This statement has caused unrest in the political circles of Bihar. Paswan also said that he meant no disrespect to the Janata Dal (United) National President Nitish Kumar but pointed out that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi in whose name all NDA constituents were getting votes. Kumar is serving his third consecutive term in BJP and Paswan said that the next chief minister should be from BJP after the assembly polls next year. 

BJP MLC Sanjay Paswan’s claims 

After making a statement on Bihar’s chief ministerial position, Sanjay Paswan also went ahead to say that CM Nitish Kumar should move to the Centre, leaving state politics for BJP and the second rung of his party. Paswan asserted that BJP has stood with Nitish Kumar for three terms and now is the time that he should reciprocate and give BJP a chance. An outrage sprung amongst the JD(U) leaders after Paswan claimed that PM Modi’s magnetism was a necessary element for the JD(U)-BJP alliance to win the Lok Sabha polls. When asked who the ideal chief ministerial candidate from BJP could be, Paswan took the name of BJP state president and union minister, Sushil Kumar Modi or Nityanand Rai.  

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Reactions to Pawan’s statements 

Sanjay Paswan’s statements were contradictory to what Sushil Kumar Modi had said on the Assembly floor recently. Sushil Kumar made a rare gesture during the proceedings by saying that the NDA would be contesting the Vidhan Sabha polls next year under the leadership of Nitish Kumar. JD(U) party’s national general secretary KC Tyagi, state minister and deputy leader in assembly Shyam Rajak and state spokesman Sanjay Singh condemned Paswan. They urged the BJP high command to reign in the leader whom they accused of having exceeded his brief.  

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The opposition leaders have also reacted to this statement by Sanjay Paswan. Tejashwi Yadav in his tweets said, “Does the chief minister have the guts to repudiate the BJP leader? Is it not true that he refrained from releasing his party's manifesto during Lok Sabha polls to appease the mightier alliance partner? Can he deny that he sought votes in the name of Narendra Modi and his 16 MPs owe their victory to the Prime Ministers appeal?” 

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Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra in his tweet said it is an insult to the chief minister. Though it is an internal matter of the NDA and Nitish Kumar is himself responsible for things coming to this pass. He allowed the BJP to flourish in Bihar. 

(Inputs from PTI) 

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