Ahead of the upcoming elections in Bihar, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is engaged in strategic discussions. A two-day meeting of the party’s election committee took place in Patna, the state’s capital, to finalize preparations for the elections. The meeting was chaired by Union Minister and party in-charge for Bihar elections, Dharmendra Pradhan. His cabinet colleague and co-in-charge of the elections, CR Patil, along with BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde, were also present.
Providing details about the meeting, Dilip Jaiswal, the President of the BJP’s state unit, mentioned that the state election committee discussed its current 60 seats in the 243-member assembly. The party contested in 110 seats in the 2020 elections, winning 75. He stated that candidates with good performance records and no strong opposition might get another chance, while others could be replaced with new faces. Jaiswal also highlighted that special consideration was given to prioritizing women and youth.
During the meeting, Vinod Tawde expressed his belief that Bihar is ready to elect an NDA government once again. The meeting of the Bihar election committee also involved discussions on potential candidates for the upcoming elections.
Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister, Vijay Kumar Sinha, stated that the Bihar election committee meeting included extensive discussions on the assembly elections. He added that Bihar, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has established new standards for development, good governance, and public welfare.
Dharmendra Pradhan and Vinod Tawde also worked on resolving differences within the five-party alliance. Both leaders visited the residence of Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is seeking 15-20 seats for his party, the Hindustani Awam Morcha, despite having only four MLAs. Manjhi said, “I cannot say much about what happened in the discussions, but I can assure you that everything is fine.” Manjhi is the only MP from his party, and his son, a member of the Legislative Council, is a state minister.
The NDA in Bihar is contesting the elections under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The alliance includes the BJP-JDU, along with the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) of Union Minister Chirag Paswan and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha led by Rajya Sabha member Upendra Kushwaha. Following their visit to Manjhi’s residence, Pradhan and Tawde then went to Kushwaha’s home. Kushwaha, known for openly expressing his views, remained silent after the meeting.
Following this meeting, a meeting of the Bihar BJP core group will be held in Delhi. Subsequently, a meeting of the Central Election Committee, attended by PM Modi, Amit Shah, JP Nadda, and other members, will finalize the names of the candidates.