BJP's election committee for Bihar polls meets for 2nd consecutive day

Patna, Oct 5 (PTI) The BJP election committee for Bihar assembly polls met here for the second consecutive day on Sunday to give final touches to its preparations for the high-stakes elections that are expected to be announced soon.

The meeting was chaired by Union minister and in-charge for the upcoming elections, Dharmendra Pradhan, who was joined by cabinet colleague and co-in charge for the polls, CR Paatil, besides BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde.

On Saturday, state BJP president Dilip Jaiswal had told reporters that the state election committee had held discussions on 60 of its "sitting seats" in the 243-strong assembly.

In the 2020 polls, the party had won 75 seats out of 110 that it had contested, and its strength rose over the years on account of defections from other parties as also victories in bypolls.

Jaiswal had also said discussions would centre around "the remaining of our sitting seats, as well as the ones we had lost last time" and that "candidates whose performance has been good and faced no strong-incumbency may be given another chance but others may have to be replaced with fresh faces." Former state president Samrat Choudhary, who is now a Deputy Chief Minister, wrote on his X handle after attending the meeting that "discussions were held on prospective candidates for upcoming assembly polls in presence of Bihar in-charge Vinod Tawde ji and election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan ji. The NDA is inching towards a landslide victory".

It was a busy day for Pradhan and Tawde, both of whom spent the forenoon trying to smooth ruffled feathers within the five-party coalition.

The two leaders went to the house of Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who has been demanding "15-20 seats" for his Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), which has only four MLAs.

The 80-year-old leader has voiced frustration over a "recognised party" eluding his party even after 10 years of formation and urged his senior leaders to help him "win eight seats" to achieve his goal.

Manjhi, who is his party's lone MP and whose MLC son is a state minister, later told reporters "I cannot divulge much about what transpired in the discussions. But I can assure you that all is well".

The NDA in Bihar, which is contesting the polls under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U), also includes Union minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha headed by Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha.

Kushwaha's house was the next stopover for Pradhan and Tawde, after visiting Manjhi's place.

Known for speaking his mind, Kushwaha, however, was tight-lipped after the meeting.

Tawde said, "Everything is fine. Not to worry", when journalists approached the BJP leader with queries.

Speculations are rife that Kushwaha is not happy with the BJP's decision to re-induct Bhojpuri superstar Pawan Singh, who had contributed to his humiliating loss in Karakat Lok Sabha seat by entering the fray as an Independent candidate.

The BJP's decision is said to have been guided by the promise of Rajput votes, a slice of which had gone to INDIA bloc in Karakat and adjoining seats, helping the RJD-Congress and Left combine make a clean sweep in that region.

Although Kushwaha was rehabilitated by the BJP, which got him elected to the Rajya Sabha, the ambitious leader is said to have been upset that despite having served in the first Narendra Modi ministry, he has not been considered this time.

Moreover, he has also been claiming that the BJP is yet to fulfil its promise of giving the Rashtriya Lok Morcha a representation in the legislative council. PTI NAC MNB