Bihar polls: LJP national secy says Chirag Paswan definitely the CM candidate

Days ahead of Bihar polls, LJP national general secretary, Shahnawaz Ahmad Kaifi said that Chirag Paswan should be the chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections and the party should fight in at least 143 seats. This statement from Kaifi comes amid confusion in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over seat-sharing in the state.

Members of LJP led by Chirag Paswan are divided on whether to stay with the NDA or quit if a respectable number of seats are not given to them. However, BJP had clarified that the NDA will contest the polls under the leadership of incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Kaifi said that the party members also believe that we should fight on at least 143 seats in the elections. He further said that Chirag Paswan's decision in this matter would be final and it would come shortly.

"Chirag Paswan is definitely the Chief Minister candidate of our party, there is no doubt about it. The leaders, workers in our party are of the same opinion. The party members also believe that we should fight on at least 143 seats in the elections. I too would urge the party to fight on these many seats," he said.

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LJP vs JDU before Bihar elections

Chirag Paswan has targeted CM Nitish Kumar a number of times on various issues including alleged COVID mismanagement. JDU on the other hand has compared Chirag to 'Kalidasa' who chops the branch of the tree on which he is sitting. Earlier, JDU leader KC Tyagi said that any party which is a part of the NDA in the state will have to accept Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's leadership, noting that top BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and its president JP Nadda, have announced that the alliance will fight the upcoming Bihar assembly polls under Kumar's stewardship.

Responding on the same, in a statement, LJP said that Tyagi has done them a 'favour' by making it clear that the two parties have never had any alliance. "We welcome this statement from the JDU that his party has never had an alliance with the LJP. JDU leader KC Tyagi has done us a favour," the LJP said in a statement. Moreover, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that he will stand firm with his son Chirag in every decision of his because he knows Chirag will work for a better future of Bihar.

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Bihar polls dates announced

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora announced that the Bihar Assembly election will be held in 3 phases- October 28, November 3 and November 7. 71, 94 and 78 Assembly constituencies will go to the polls in the first phase, second phase and third phase respectively. The counting of votes will take place on November 10.

More than 7 lakh units of hand sanitizers, about 46 lakh masks, 6 lakh PPE kits, 7.6 lakhs face kits, and 23 lakh hand gloves have been arranged. Furthermore, 7.2 crore single-use hand gloves have been specifically allocated for the voters. 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. 

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