'Mahagathbandhan on verge of major split'

"The Mahagathbandhan is on the verge of a major split, given the visible disunity among them... Today is the last day for nominations, yet there is still no clarity. All those doing this will risk their existence and could cease to exist once the results are announced on November 14th," Paswan said to ANI.

On Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement regarding NDA's chief ministerial candidate for Bihar elections 2025, Paswan said, "We are contesting the elections under his leadership, and there is complete trust in Nitish Kumar's name. Nitish ji has a track record; he has delivered..."

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday clarified that while the BJP believes in Nitish Kumar's leadership, the decision on the Chief Minister's post will be made by the alliance after the Bihar elections.

Shah emphasised that the party respects the alliance and its partners, and the final decision will be based on the outcome of the elections.

"Who am I to make someone a Chief Minister? There are many parties in the alliance; after the elections, we will sit down and decide on the CM. Now we are fighting the elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar", the Union Minister said during an interview with Aaj Tak's Anjana Om Kashyap.

When asked if the BJP gets more MLAs than their alliance partners, Shah replied, "Now also we have more (MLAs), but still Nitish Kumar is Chief Minister...Rajneeti (politics) cannot happen for TRP...you asked me what will happen later, then I gave you an answer."

Currently, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leads the government of Bihar. BJP is the largest party in the alliance with 84 seats, whereas its alliance partner, the Janata Dal (United) has 48, half of the number of their partner.

Shah highlighted Nitish Kumar's long history of opposing the Congress party and his experience as a socialist leader.

"Nitish Kumar is a very important leader in Indian politics. During his lifetime, he has never been in Congress. Even while being with Congress, he has never served with them for longer than 2.5 years, so if you want to evaluate someone's life, then we should consider this significant period. He is a socialist leader; since his political birth, he has opposed Congress. During the JP movement, too, he fought against Congress. I believe that the BJP definitely believes in Nitish Kumar, but also the people of Bihar believe in him," the BJP leader said.

Recalling the 2020 elections, Shah recalled how Nitish Kumar had offered the CM post to the BJP, but Prime Minister Modi considered his seniority and supported him as CM.

"BJP believes in the alliance. As I said before, we still made Nitish Kumar the CM. However, he had called the Prime Minister, saying that the alliance's convention states the larger party should have the CM, and we will support you. But PM looked at his seniority and told on behalf of the party that we do not object," he said. -- ANI