Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday re-affirmed his commitment to the National Democratic Alliance saying emphatically that he will never again join the 'Mahagathbandhan' in the future. He said this on the third day of high-level NDA meeting here with which leaders of the alliance did a robust show of unification declaring their resolution to face the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Nitish Kumar accepted those steps as errors in judgment he made on the suggestions of the senior leaders in his party (JD-U). Still, did not mention the names of any of them.
In this meeting, the leaders collectively set a rather ambitious goal: to win 220 seats. Just shows the intent to reinforce the strength of the alliance.
Nitish Kumar also requested the leaders of the NDA that these would be conducted at the Panchayat and block levels so it turns into a grassroots-level outreach; they would have to act as a single platform instead of parties in fragments.
Bihar unit BJP president Dilip Jaiswal after the meeting said that the NDA will contest the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Actually, Jaiswal says the NDA has over-ambitiously set a target of outrunning the 2020 elections mandates by the number of seats.
Some of the key agenda in the meeting included addressing public discomfort over liquor prohibition and the much-contested smart meter installations that also drew lots of criticism and became prime points for the opposition rallying.
Nitish Kumar called upon NDA leaders to more strongly counter the mischief of misinformation by the Opposition saying the Grand Alliance had misled and cheated people of Bihar.
To step up the outreach of NDA, Nitish Kumar devised a strategy of attending Assembly or segment-level conferences across the state, keeping in mind that future programs must be well-coordinated and shared within the alliance.
During the meet, all NDA allies' senior leaders in attendance meant all NDA Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assembly and so on.
The meeting is being treated as the first significant step by the NDA towards preparation for the 2025 Assembly elections that acts as a critical organisational push.
The assembly by-elections in four seats in Bihar that are going to happen soon can be seen as a sort of semi-final test for NDA's strategy and unity before entering the real game-the actual assembly elections.
Political analysts think that in this backdrop, the meeting has gained special significance as it is a united front and clarifies the objectives of the campaign for the alliance both in the by-elections and the bigger 2025 contest.
Read also| Women Feel Unsafe Around Those Associated with SP, Says UP CM Adityanath
