'NDA Has Not Announced A Name,' INDIA Bloc Questions BJP-JDU On CM Face After Naming RJD's Tejashwi Yadav As Leader

Patna: The Mahagathbandhan alliance in Bihar has finally announced RJD leader and former Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav as its Chief Ministerial face, while Mukesh Sahani has been nominated as the Deputy CM face for the polls that get underway on November 6.

Endorsing Tejashwi's candidature for the top post in the State, INDIA bloc leaders questioned the NDA alliance for not rallying behind incumbent Nitish Kumar as their leader.

"NDA has not even announced a name, they are saying that MLAs will decide who their leader will be. So, tell me who is late? It is Bihar which is 20 years late on the path to development... Strategies have been decided on all seats...There is no confusion on our side," said Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera.

Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot, who made the announcements of Tejashwi Yadav and Mukesh Sahani also questioned the BJP on its Chief Ministerial candidate.

"We want to ask Amit Shah ji and the president of their party - who is the CM face of your alliance? This is our demand because we saw that the election (in Maharashtra) was fought under the leadership of the then CM Eknath Shinde, but later we found out that someone else was chosen as the Chief Minister," Gehlot said.

Meanwhile, all the allies of the Gathbandhan appeared unified despite reports of a confusion in their ranks in the run-up to today's news conference.

CPI(ML) Liberation leader Dipankar Bhattacharya said, "In a big state like Bihar, the Deputy CM face has been announced as per requirement...We had thought that we would contest a higher number of seats this time but the alliance grew bigger this time. So, we are contesting on a lesser number of seats, on 20 seats. But we will contest unitedly."

Tejashwi Yadav who will now pit his popularity against Nitish Kumar knows he has a big ask ahead of him but sounded confident of leading the Gathbandhan to victory on November 14.

"All the leaders of the Grand Alliance have shown trust in me, and I will live up to that trust. Together, we will uproot the corrupt 'double engine' government. We have also held a press conference together, but injustice is being done to Nitish Kumar ji in the NDA. He has not even been declared the face of the Chief Minister. The truth is that the BJP will not make Nitish Kumar ji the Chief Minister. Amit Shah has already confirmed that the number of legislators will determine the Chief Minister. The question is, every time, the face of the Chief Minister has been declared, so why is such a statement being made this time?" he said.

RJD national spokesperson Nawal Kishore said, "Everyone in Mahagathbandhan knew this...Now, Bihar has come to know that Tejashwi Yadav is the future of Bihar. This is not just about the change in Govt but also about the transformation of future of Bihar. Tejashwi Yadav has worked and fulfilled the promises he made earlier. People of Bihar have accepted him and they will give him a chance."

The first phase of the Bihar elections will be held on November 6 followed by a second phase on November 12 and counting of votes will be held on November 14.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and auto-generated from an agency feed.)