Bihar politics: After JD (U) betrayal, BJP sets target of 35 seats for 2024 Lok Sabha polls in state

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conducted Core Committee meeting at party headquarters here on Tuesday, and set a target of winning 35 seats in Bihar in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The meeting took place in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the party`s national president JP Nadda. Notably, the party is planning afresh for Bihar in the wake of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) parted ways with the National Democratic Alliance.  

Chaired by JP Nadda, the meeting has given clear instructions to its leaders in the state to strengthen the party`s base in the whole of Bihar, besides exposing the "deceitful" alliance by going among the public and winning more than 35 seats in Bihar in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, according to sources. Bihar BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal, BL Santosh, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Sahnawaz Hussain, Mangal Pandey, Janak Ram, Nand Kishore Yadav and several other leaders were present. 

After the meeting, Jaiswal told media persons, "the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar is an alliance of deceiving the people. BJP will fight against it from the street to the state Assembly. The part has set the target of winning 35 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections." 

"The meeting of Bihar Core Committee was held today in the presence of President JP Nadda ji and Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji. There has been a very thorough and detailed discussion on all the issues. It is well known that this coalition betrays the people and this is a backdoor alliance which is trying to re-establish Lalu Raj," he said, adding that the BJP will set the record by winning more than 35 seats in Bihar in the 2024 general elections. 

There are 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar out of which 17 are presently held by the BJP while JD(U) has 16 seats. Lok Janshakti Party has six seats and Congress has one seat. 

Nitish Kumar inducts 31 ministers into Bihar cabinet  

Earlier on Tuesday, a total of 31 ministers were inducted into the Bihar cabinet from various parties that are part of the Mahagathbandhan or the Grand Alliance in the state. The new ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan at Raj Bhavan in Patna. The RJD got 16 ministerial berths and the Janata Dal (United) 11, while two legislators from the Congress, one from Jitin Ram Manjhi`s Hindustani Awam Morcha and the lone Independent MLA, Sumit Kumar Singh, also took oath as cabinet ministers.

From RJD, Deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav`s brother Tej Pratap Yadav, Samir Kumar Mahaseth, Chandrashekhar, Kumar Sarvajeet, Lalit Yadav, Surendra Prasad Yadav, Ramanand Yadav, Jitendra Kumar Rai, Anita Devi and Sudhakar Singh and Alok Mehta took oath.

Congress legislators Afaque Alam and Murari Lal Gautam were inducted into the cabinet as ministers, while Hindustani Awam Morcha`s Santosh Suman was also sworn in. The Bihar cabinet can have up to 36 ministers, including the Chief Minister. Some ministerial berths will be kept vacant for future cabinet expansion, sources told ANI.

Nitish Kumar had broken away from the BJP and formed a government with the RJD and other parties earlier this month. The Chief Minister and his deputy - RJD`s Tejashwi Yadav - took oath on August 10. The Bihar Grand Alliance has a combined strength of 163. Its effective strength climbed to 164 after Independent MLA Sumit Kumar Singh extended its support to Nitish Kumar. The new government is likely to prove a majority in the Bihar assembly on August 24.

In the 2020 Assembly polls in Bihar, the National Democratic Alliance had won 125 seats, with BJP winning 74 of these, the Janata Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar 43, the Vikassheel Insaan Party 4 and the Hindustan Awaam Party (Secular) 4, putting the alliance just above the requisite 122-majority mark needed to form the government.

On the other hand, the RJD and its allies had won 110 seats. The RJD finished as the single-largest party with 75 seats, while Congress won a mere 19 seats. Of the 29 seats, the Left parties had contested, they won 16, with the CPI (ML-Liberation) winning 12 of them. Asaduddin Owaisi`s AIMIM had won five seats in the Seemanchal region of the state, but 4 of its MLAs later joined the RJD. 

Mahagathbandhan was needed in Bihar: Jitan Ram Manjhi

The patron of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), Jitan Ram Manjhi, has said that the new government with the help of Mahagathbandhan was needed in Bihar, asserting "Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav will not take the burden of slander on their respective parties and the government. Hence, they will not allow crime and criminals to flourish in Bihar and give a tag of Jungle Raj. BJP is eyeing on the opportunity to target this government which these two leaders are well aware of." 

"Keeping in view the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 Vidhan Sabha, the new government is formed in Bihar to challenge BJP. Both Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav came together at the right time and it is in the interest of common people. They will address the issues like unemployment, price rise, welfare of farmers, backward class people and Dalit communities; improve health and education system of Bihar. These are the challenges for them," Manjhi said.

"We are expecting that Nitish Kumar will give a stable and good government in Bihar," the HAM leader added.

(With ANI/IANS Inputs)