Bihar Elections 2025: JD-U Asserts ‘No Vacancy’ to BJP, Says Nitish Will be Next CM

Patna: Lalan Singh, Sharvan Kumar, Neeraj Kumar, Shyam Razak and Zama Khan, all senior Janata Dal United (JD-U) leaders, share one thing in common -- they have loudly asserted that Nitish Kumar will be the next Chief Minister of Bihar.

These JD-U leaders in one voice have made it clear that there is “no vacancy” for the Chief Minister’s post in Bihar and claimed that Nitish Kumar is and will continue.

A new poster by JD-U on Sunday also strengthened this view. JD-U’s new poster read “Bihar Hai Khushhal, Phir Se Aa Gaye Nitish Kumar”. The message is clear and loud.

Amid suspense over who will be the Chief Minister two days after the landslide victory of National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the single largest party in terms of seats. JD-U, which is the number two party, seems adamant not to make any compromise in the face of Nitish as Chief Minister.

“Koi vacncy nahi hai, CM to Nitish hi honge”, said Union Minister Lalan Singh, who is also former JD-U president, after he met Nitish at his official residence, 1 Anne Marg, where security was tightened since Friday, soon after the poll result was out.

Another senior JD-U leader and Bihar minister Sharvan Kumar, who won from Nalanda, saìd “Nitish hi CM hai and CM rahenge”. There is no question of ifs and buts as far as Nitish for CM is concern, he added/

JD-U chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar too said that Nitish would be the next chief minister. “People have voted for Nitish to continue as Chief Minister”, he said.

Neeraj, a former minister, was backed by Bihar mìnister Zama Khan and former minister Shatam Razak, both of them won polls this time.

JD-U has asked all its newly elected MLAs to come to Patna. Nitish Kumar has reportedly held closed door meetings with some of his party leaders.

However, BJP has again emerged as ‘big brother’ in the 2025 Assembly polls. The party won 89 of the 101 seats it contested and JD-U won 85 of the 101 seats it contested. Though BJP has only four seats more than JD-U, three allies of NDA including Lok Janshati Party (Ramvilas), which won 23 of 29 seats contested, HAM that won 5 of 6 seats contested and RLM won 4 of 6 seats contested, are seen more pro-BJP than pro-Nitish. LJP(R) is headed by Union Minister Chirag Paswan, who has called himself the “Hanuman of PM Narendra Modi” and HAM’s founder Jitan Ram Manjhi, 80, a Union Minister has publicly declared himself as ‘chela’ of Modi. While RLM, headed by former Union Minister Upendar Kushwaha, is eyeing a berth in the Modi cabinet soon.

In the 2020 Assembly polls, BJP won 74 seats and JD-U only 43 seats. Despite this, BJP agreed to  Nitish as Chief Minister, which did not go down well with a few party leaders in Bihar then.

The latest polls outcome is big news for BJP as it has become the single largest party in terms of seats in Bihar for the first time. It is also close to fulfilling its long-cherished dream of forming its own government with a BJP leader as Chief Minister.

It is interesting to note that despite the massive win, speculation over the name of next Chief Minister is not clear, with top BJP leaders maintaining silence on the matter.

According to reports emerging from the BJP camp, the party is in a dilemma to accept Nitish as the next CM.

BJP state president Dileep Jaiswal said on Saturday that the newly elected MLAs of NDA would elect the leader. This is more or less what Union Minister Amit Shah had stated last month, which created more suspense over BJP’s stand over the CM face.

A dominant view in political circles here is that BJP will play games with Nitish this time, as since last year, BJP has been eyeing to form its own government. Things are likely to get clear in a day or two.