Tejashwi dares NDA to name CM face, calls BJP alliance a ‘thugbandhan’

He launched the attack shortly after being declared the Chief Ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

Meanwhile, BJP dismissed Tejashwi’s selection INDIA bloc’s CM candidate as “dynastic” and “meaningless”.

“We’ve never been confused about this. We’re clear on this matter. But the question is, who will be the NDA’s face? So far, no joint press conference has been held, no vision revealed, no agenda announced, and no Chief Minister announced. Amit Shah’s statement clearly shows that Nitish Kumar is not going to be made Chief Minister,” Tejashwi Yadav was quoted as saying by India Today.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav reiterated that his “only dream is to make Bihar number one”, asserting that his party makes “no broken or false promises.”

Union Minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh hit back, saying, “This is not astonishing anymore. Lalu Yadav has very adamantly announced his son as the CM candidate. This is not a ‘gathbandhan’ but a ‘thugbandhan’. Nitish Kumar is the NDA’s CM face.”

Echoing a similar view, BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya accused the Mahagathbandhan of attempting to pull Bihar back into the “dark era of Jungle Raj.”

He said, “Tejashwi Yadav’s announcements are nothing but empty rhetoric,” describing the INDIA bloc as a “Mahathugbandhan” and alleging its leaders were “symbols of scams.”

Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad dismissed Yadav’s employment pledge as “impractical”, remarking, “He has promised to provide government jobs to 2.6 crore people, which would cost around Rs 12 lakh crore, while Bihar’s total budget is only Rs 3 lakh crore. From where will he provide jobs?” according to India Today.

BJP president JP Nadda, speaking at a rally in Aurangabad, said the Bihar polls would be “a fight between ‘vikaas’ (development) and ‘vinaash’ (destruction).”

He accused the RJD of representing “Rangdari, Jungle Raj, and Dadagiri” and credited Nitish Kumar for liberating the state from years of lawlessness.

Meanwhile, BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya said Tejashwi’s projection as the CM face was “mere tokenism” by the Congress, claiming he had been “politically diminished” by Rahul Gandhi.

Elections to the 243-member Bihar Assembly will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11, with results to be declared on November 14.