Modi backs Nitish as NDA's CM face ahead of Bihar polls

Launches poll campaign with twin rallies, predicts record-breaking win for NDA

- MPOST BUREAU

For the first time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday endorsed Nitish Kumar as the BJP-led NDA combine's chief ministerial face, predicting that the alliance under his leadership would break all previous electoral records.

With just weeks to go before the high-stakes Bihar Assembly elections, the poll campaign moved into top gear as PM Modi kicked off his rallies, addressing twin events in the state. His endorsement of Nitish Kumar as NDA's chief ministerial face came a day after RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was named by the Congress as Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial candidate. Tejashwi Yadav quickly claimed that the BJP had no intention of making Nitish Kumar the Chief Minister again.

Praising Nitish Kumar, PM Modi said: "He came to power in 2005, but nearly a decade of his tenure was hampered by a hostile Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, which was constantly blackmailed by the RJD that it would withdraw support if cooperation was extended to the NDA government in Bihar." "This time, under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, NDA will break all its previous records of victory. Bihar will give NDA its biggest-ever mandate," he stressed.

Invoking the Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo's popular 'Sushasan Babu' moniker, the Prime Minister said: "Entire Bihar is saying 'Phir ek baar NDA sarkar... phir ek baar sushasan sarkar," while kickstarting the NDA's election campaign from Samastipur.