Question over Nitish if NDA wins

Union Home Minister Amit Shah made a very matter of fact statement on who the next Chief Minister of Bihar would be.

- PANKAJ VOHRA

Answering a query put forward by a TV journalist, Shah was candid when he admitted that the NDA in the present elections was being led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

However, he added that after the polls, the leadership issue in the event of an NDA victory, would be decided by the various alliance partners as also the newly elected legislators. In other words, the issue of who would be the next CM is open and has not been settled as yet.

There has been speculation that the BJP, which is likely to once again emerge as the single largest party amongst its coalition partners at least, would take a call on the leadership question and if the Maharashtra formula was to be replicated, then there is every possibility that the next CM may be from the BJP itself. That is if the NDA is victorious.

While there are hiccups in the alliance, with many partners not happy with the seat distribution formula, overall, the NDA is certainly in a better position than the Mahagathbandhan, which is in a state of confusion. The Congress and the RJD have not been able to resolve their dispute regarding some seats and with Rahul Gandhi not taking as much interest as he should in the Bihar elections, the grand old party appears to be slipping from a position of advantage, many thought it was in following the Leader of Opposition's yatras.