NEW DELHI: A day after the Election Commission announced the Bihar Assembly election schedule on Monday, the BJP targeted RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav over his claim of being the Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial face, alleging that neither his party nor the alliance partners have officially endorsed him for the top post.BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said Tejashwi was projecting himself as the CM candidate without support from his alliance partners and accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of avoiding a clear endorsement.
“He is representing them, but neither his party members nor his alliance partners are speaking up. Just think, they travelled together for so many days during the yatra, and repeatedly called Rahul Gandhi ‘PM, PM’. But you must remember that press conference when Rahul Gandhi was asked who would be the chief ministerial face of the alliance. Tejashwi ji was sitting right next to him, looking at him with hopeful eyes, but Rahul ji did not respond, and his face fell,” Trivedi said.He also took a swipe at RJD Supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, describing the situation as a leadership crisis within the family.“Lalu Prasad Yadav ji once used to say he was the leader of the poor and the marginalised. But today, he faces the dilemma of whether to be the leader of this son or that son, this daughter or that particular daughter. In other words, even within the family, problems have emerged,” he added.Trivedi expressed confidence that the BJP-led NDA would secure a strong mandate. “People of Bihar and the entire country are watching how there has been a positive change under PM Modi and CM Nitish Kumar. We are confident that a strong and effective mandate will be given in favour of the BJP-NDA,” he said.The Election Commission announced that voting for Bihar’s 243 Assembly seats will be held in two phases on November 6 and November 11, with counting on November 14. A Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists will be carried out nationwide.In the 2020 Assembly elections, Nitish Kumar led the NDA to victory. He broke ties with the BJP in 2022 to join the RJD-Congress alliance but returned to the NDA ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. This time, the NDA will face the INDIA bloc led by Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD, Congress, Left parties, and Mukesh Sahani’s VIP. Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj is also entering the fray.The total number of electors stands at 7.42 crore. Patna recorded an addition of over 1.63 lakh voters across 14 constituencies, while Madhubani and Nalanda districts also saw major increases.
