Just hours before a formal media briefing of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar today, the BJP put out an emphatic statement in support of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. "Only those who accept Nitish Kumar's leadership in Bihar will stay in the NDA," said the BJP's Bihar chief in an apparent message to ally Chirag Paswan, who recently declared his party would contest on its own and fight Nitish Kumar in this month's state polls.