NDA leaders from poll-bound Bihar meet PM, laud budgetary allocations for state
The meeting marks the beginning of the alliance’s poll preparation in the state, where the NDA is seeking to retain power under the leadership of chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Lawmakers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to thank him for the provisions made for the poll-bound state in Union Budget 2025-26.
The meeting marks the beginning of the alliance’s poll preparation in the state, where the NDA is seeking to retain power under the leadership of chief minister Nitish Kumar.
In the budget presented by Union finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, Bihar was allocated projects worth ₹60,000 crore, which included new airports, infrastructure projects, a Makhana Board to improve production, processing, value addition and marketing of foxnuts, and financial support in the Western Koshi Canal ERM Project, which can benefit farmers cultivating over 50,000 hectares of land in the Mithilanchal region of Bihar.
The allocation for Bihar was perceived as the Centre’s outreach towards the people in the state that will go to polls later this year. Although the BJP said the budgetary allocation is part of their commitment to the people of Bihar, opposition parties accused the government of making the announcement a poll plank.
The BJP runs a coalition government in Bihar along with its NDA partners Janata Dal (United), the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and the Hindustani Awam Morcha.
JD(U) welcomed the budgetary provisions, pointing out that the previous Congress government had neglected Bihar, and the state lagged in several parameters such as education and employment avenues.
The BJP, which relies on the JD(U) for support at the Centre, has indicated that it will go to polls under the leadership of party chief and CM Nitish Kumar.
In 2020, the NDA was pitted against the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, or Grand Alliance, of the Congress, the Left and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). In 2022, Kumar broke ties with the NDA and with support from the opposition bloc was sworn in as CM again, but the arrangement was short-lived as he rejoined the NDA in 2024.
A senior BJP functionary said the upcoming assembly election will be contested jointly by the NDA just as it was done in Maharashtra and Delhi. In Maharashtra, the BJP contested the elections as part of the Mahayuti alliance with the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and NCP (Ashok Chavan) and in Delhi, although the JD(U) and LJP contested one seat each, partners of the NDA including the TDP campaigned extensively.
The BJP leader said the election strategy is already being firmed up, dismissing speculation of a rejig in the alliance.
“Chief minister Nitish Kumar has already indicated that he is here to stay in the NDA and will not make the mistake of returning to the RJD. The BJP leadership has also signalled that the party will go to polls under his leadership,” the BJP functionary said.
Union ministers Rajeev Ranjan Singh, Giriraj Singh, Chirag Paswan, JD(U) working president and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha were among the 30 lawmakers who attended the meeting.