Prime Minister Narendra Modi: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar played a big role for a new India and a new Bihar

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi advocated Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the face of NDA in Bihar ahead of the coming state elections, stating he “played a big role for a new India and a new Bihar”.

“Bihar was behind compared to other states in terms of development for many years- politics, cash crunch, infrastructure were some of the reasons,’ added PM Modi.

‘Nitish Kumar has played a big role in our aim towards a New India, New Bihar. There was a time when road connectivity, internet connectivity were not discussed. Being a landlocked state, Bihar faced many challenges’, he added.

PM Modi’s endorsement comes ahead of speculated internal strife within the NDA, one section against Mr Kumar’s continuance as the Chief Minister and the face of the NDA. Last month, ally Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party considered contesting against the Chief Minister’s Janata Dal United.

Earlier this week, while Mr Kumar launched his election campaign, the LJP held a meeting to discuss whether they should go with or against the JDU in the upcoming polls. The leaders had finally left the decision to Mr Paswan, whose son Chirag Paswan has admitted to having aspirations for the state’s top post at an internal meeting of the party.

To add up to this, a section of the BJP also claimed that their internal survey suggests a huge anti-incumbency against Nitish Kumar and wanted the NDA to contest the polls in the name of PM Modi. The survey has concluded in diminishing popularity of current CM among people.

Today, PM Modi has made the air clear that Mr Kumar has the Centre’s backing and the key battle is for development of Bihar.