BIHAR BATTLE: Shah meets Nitish, slams RJD for fielding Shahabuddin’s son

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, whose averments on Nitish Kumar's continuance as Chief Minister of Bihar have been fuelling speculations in the poll-bound state, met the JD(U) president here on Friday.

Shah, who had arrived here the previous evening, drove down to 1, Anney Marg, the official residence of the CM, before going for a rally in Saran district and an interaction in the state capital.

He was accompanied by Union Minister and election-in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary. They were accorded a warm welcome by Kumar, who had JD(U) working president Sanjay Jha by his side.

The BJP, on its part, despite having 80 MLAs in the outgoing Assembly, has not insisted on having the upper hand, and agreed to contest the same number of 101 seats as the JD(U). The arrangement has come as a shocker to hardliners in the BJP, who had been hoping that the party will muscle its way through to install its “own CM” in the only Hindi heartland state, where the seat of power has eluded it.

Jha said, “The two leaders discussed the campaign strategy for the coming days.” He asserted that “there were no differences among the NDA constituents over seat-sharing arrangements”.

Meanwhile, Shah took a swipe at the RJD for giving a ticket to late gangster-turned-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin’s son, Osama Shahab, asking how the party can ensure the security of the people of Bihar if it fields such candidates.

The RJD has fielded Shahab from the Raghunathpur, once considered the stronghold of his father, who had been a several-term RJD MP. He also criticised the party’s poll promise of a government job to every family in Bihar. Shah asked the RJD leaders from where the required funds will be generated to pay their salaries.