Nitish should be made Deputy PM, wishes senior Bihar BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Former Union Minister and senior Bihar BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Thursday (April 10, 2025) expressed his “personal wish” that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar be made the Deputy Prime Minister owing to his “tremendous” contribution to the National Democratic Alliance.

“Nitishji’s contribution to the NDA is tremendous and he has been strengthening the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by playing the role of an anchor in the coalition governments both at the Centre and the State. It is my personal wish that he be made the Deputy Prime Minister and if the wish is fulfilled, Bihar will see another son of its soil [after the late Congress leader Babu Jagjivan Ram] rising to the office,” Mr. Choubey told mediapersons in Patna.

Mr. Choubey, a former BJP MP from Buxar and Union Minister, has also held key portfolios as a member of Mr. Kumar’s Cabinet in the NDA governments of the past. He has been associated with the BJP for almost five decades and is known for hardline Hindutva politics.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Mr. Choubey was denied a BJP ticket and Mithilesh Tiwari, who was fielded from Buxar, lost to the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Sudhakar Singh.

With the Assembly election in Bihar due in October-November this year, the BJP leadership has been reiterating that the NDA would contest the poll under the leadership of Mr. Kumar. The BJP has 21 Ministers while alliance partner Janata Dal (United), led by Mr. Kumar, has only 13 in the 36-member Cabinet. The NDA in Bihar comprises five parties – the BJP, JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), the Hindustani Awam Morcha of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha led-Rashtriya Lok Morcha.

Meanwhile, Mr. Choubey’s “personal wish” triggered sharp reactions from Opposition parties and even from the BJP. “It will be an issue decided by our leadership. It may be someone’s personal wish but all party leaders should refrain themselves from making comments that could spark strong reactions,” a senior BJP leader in Bihar told The Hindu while preferring anonymity. “If the top leadership finds Mr. Kumar worthy, he will grace the Deputy PM position but right now, there is no such plan or discussion regarding anyone,” he added.

RJD leader and spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari took a jibe. “Why only the post of Deputy PM, why not PM?” he asked. State Congress leaders refused to comment, saying they would not “react to someone’s personal wish”. “Let Mr. Kumar be made President of the United States, why only Deputy PM?” a Congress leader said in jest.

Mr. Kumar, on March 30, had held a closed door meeting with senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his official 1, Anne Marg residence in Patna to discuss strategy for the upcoming Assembly election. The BJP leaders, of late, have reiterated that the “NDA would win 225 out of the total 243 Assembly seats in the forthcoming Assembly election”.

“The NDA is day dreaming”, quipped RJD’s Mr. Tiwari on the alliance’s ambitions.