Nitish Kumar to continue as Bihar CM? JD(U)'s deleted X post sparks buzz

Buoyed by their alliance's electoral imminent victory in the Bihar Assembly elections, the Janata Dal (United) on Friday posted on social media that Nitish Kumar would continue as chief minister. However, the post on X was soon deleted.

With counting still underway, trends as of 4 pm indicate a comfortable majority for the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), with Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) emerging as the biggest gainer, leading on 84 seats, up from 43 seats in 2020.

"Unprecedented and unmatched. Nitish Kumar was, is, and will remain the Chief Minister of Bihar," the now-deleted post by the JD(U) on X read.

The purported post reignited debate over whether Nitish Kumar will continue as the NDA’s CM in Bihar. While the NDA fought the election under Nitish Kumar's leadership, the alliance did not name him their chief ministerial candidate.

Opposition parties such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party have alleged that Nitish Kumar will not return as the CM even as NDA returns to power in the state.

What has the NDA said about it?

During the campaigning, Union Home Minister and the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah said the NDA would contest the Assembly polls “under the leadership” of Nitish Kumar, but “the legislators would decide” who will occupy the top post after the elections.

Bihar election results

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the NDA is leading on over 200 seats in the 243-seat Assembly as of 3.20 pm, marking a significant improvement from its previous election performance. The surge has been driven by gains made by the JD(U), followed by the BJP, which is leading on 95 seats, up from 74 in the 2020 elections.