Ahead of Delhi visit, Nitish Kumar's 'BJP will fall to 50 seats' claim

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Saturday asserted that a united opposition, which he is working on, will trounce the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll and "bundle it out for about 50 seats".

Kumar made the averment here while addressing a meeting of the state executive of his JD(U), which was followed shortly afterwards by the national executive.

According to a party release, the chief minister squarely blamed JD(U)'s drubbing in the 2020 assembly polls on "BJP's conspiracy" and also recalled his own reluctance to continue for another term in office.

Notably, the assembly poll results sowed seeds of distrust and the crisis of confidence deepened with the perception that the former JD(U) president RCP Singh had become a mole of the BJP.

Kumar, faced with the possibility of a split in the party allegedly with help of RCP, as Singh is known as, had pulled the plug on the alliance with BJP in August and formed a new government with the RJD-Congress combine. It has the support of the Left from outside.

"If all (opposition) parties fight together, the BJP will be bundled out for about 50 seats. I am devoting myself to that drive (abhiyan)", said the JD(U) de facto chief. He will reach Delhi on Monday on a three-day tour as part of his political endeavors.

The veteran leader, who had been a BJP ally for nearly three decades, also had a word of caution for his party workers in Bihar following the break up.

"The BJP will try to disturb social and communal harmony in the state. We must foil their designs by keeping vigil to the level of panchayats," Kumar added.