Nitish Kumar first took oath as the chief minister of Bihar in 2000 (File)
Bihar BJP president Samrat Chaudhary on Thursday announced that the NDA would contest the 2025 assembly polls in the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, Nitish Kumar-led JD (U) contested 16 seats and emerged victorious in 12. It is in coalition with the BJP, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) in the state.
Mr Kumar's support has become crucial for NDA government formation at the Centre as the BJP has failed to attain a majority in the Lok Sabha on its own.
In the backdrop of the current political situation in the country, Samrat Chaudhary's statement that NDA would contest the 2025 assembly polls in the state under the leadership of Kumar assumes significance.
"The NDA will contest the next assembly elections in Bihar under the CM's leadership... we have started preparations for it," Mr Chaudhary, the deputy chief minister, told reporters.
Mr Kumar first took oath as the chief minister of Bihar in 2000. However, his government fell within a week. He has been the chief minister of the state since 2005, except for a brief period in 2014.
Of the 40 Lok Sabha seats, the JD (U) and the BJP won 12 each, while LJP (Ram Vilas) secured five, and HAM won one. In the INDIA bloc, the RJD won four seats, the Congress three and the CPI (ML) Liberation two.
Compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA's tally in Bihar decreased by nine seats.
Commenting on BJP's dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls, Chaudhary said, "People of Bihar gave us 75 per cent marks (12 seats) in this Lok Sabha polls. We will deliberate on what went wrong in constituencies where we lost," Mr Chaudhary added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)