'RJD's senior leader sure of NDA's re-election', claims Bihar Dy CM; takes dig at Tejashwi

On Monday, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi took a dig at the RJD-led Mahagatbandhan for its prospects in the upcoming state Assembly election. According to him, senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui had predicted the re-election of the BJP-JD(U) government during the last Bihar Assembly session. He added that Siddiqui had clearly mentioned that there was no guarantee of RJD's return to power.

In a veiled dig at Mahagatbandhan's CM face Tejashwi Yadav, Modi stressed on Siddiqui's grasp of the "ground realities". The BJP leader is currently recuperating from COVID-19 at AIIMS, Patna. The campaigning for the first phase of the Bihar polls will end later in the day. 

Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi remarked, "Friends, when the state Assembly was in session, RJD's senior leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui made an observation. He said that Modiji, it is guaranteed that you will return for 5 years. But what is our guarantee? Abdul Bari Siddiqui is a senior leader who knows the ground realities. He had full confidence that the BJP-JDU government will be re-elected under the leadership of Nitish Kumar."

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Bihar polls

The Bihar Assembly has a strength of 243 members out of which 38 seats are reserved for SC and two for ST. In the 2015 state polls, the Mahagatbandhan comprising RJD, JD(U) and Congress won a whopping majority with 178 seats under the leadership of Nitish Kumar. On the other hand, the BJP-led alliance won from only 58 constituencies. On July 26, 2017, Nitish Kumar stepped down as the CM citing irreconcilable differences with RJD over corruption allegations against Tejashwi Yadav and joined hands with its former ally BJP.

The upcoming Assembly election will be held in 3 phases- October 28, November 3 and November 7.  To decongest polling stations, the voting time has been increased by one hour. Thus, people will be able to cast their votes from 7 am to 6 pm barring for the areas affected by Left-wing extremism. The counting of votes will take place on November 10. While the NDA comprises BJP, JD(U), VIP and HAM, the Mahagatbandhan consists of RJD, Congress, CPI(M-L), CPI and CPM. 

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