Chirag Paswan congratulates Nitish Kumar and BJP. But for two different reasons

Taking a swipe at Nitish Kumar becoming the CM while his party individually finished third in the election, Paswan wished for a complete term for Nitish.

Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan, who was projected to be a crucial factor in Bihar’s new government but then turned out to be a damp squib, congratulated both Nitish Kumar and the BJP, soon after the swearing-in ceremony on Monday. “Congratulations to you for being the CM once again and congratulations to BJP for making you the CM,” Nitish Kumar’s bete noire Paswan tweeted. In fact, he was one of the first political leaders to congratulate Nitish for his fourth consecutive time at the helm of Bihar.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan , who has been opposing Nitish Kumar since the beginning of the election campaign, was one the first leaders to congratulate Nitish Kumar. (PTI)

“I am sending you the vision document prepared by four lakh Biharis so that you can implement some from them. Congratulations once again on becoming the Chief Minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party for making you the Chief Minister,” Chirag tweeted.

Earlier, Paswan wished for a complete term for Nitish Kumar. “I hope the government will complete its tenure and you will continue to be the Chief Minister of NDA,” he tweeted.

The LJP which is an NDA constituent in the Centre severed its ties with the NDA and decided to contest alone in the elections. In a twist, it continued supporting the BJP aiming at an NDA government in Bihar minus the JD(U). But LJP managed to win only one seat though it was successful in cutting JD(U) votes, as Nitish Kumar himself has admitted.

With only 43 seats, JD(U) has now made way for the BJP — which won 74 seats — to be the senior party in the alliance. keeping its pre-election promise, the NDA chose Nitish Kumar as their leader in Bihar, which also carries stamp from BJP’s top leadership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged Kumar’s leadership, his development initiatives, women empowerment programmes for the victory in Bihar. However, JD(U)’s performance and RJD emerging as the single-largest party in the election made Kumar’s road to the CM chair for the fourth consecutive term a little bumpy.

Terming NDA’s victory as PM Modi’s victory, Paswan wrote, “I hope the new government materialises the dream of a self-reliant Bihar. Respected Narendra Modi ji has won a big victory in Bihar. It is the wish of all Bihari to have a better change in Bihar’s conditions.”