This statement came just two days after Paswan expressed regret over having to support the Nitish Kumar-led government, which he alleged had “surrendered” before criminals.
“Several times I have reiterated that my commitment and love is towards the Prime Minister. Under PM Modi’s leadership, the elections (in Bihar) will be fought. After the election results, Nitish Kumar will again take oath
as Chief Minister. Definitely, he will be the Chief Minister,” Paswan told reporters at an event.
Paswan’s party, LJP (Ram Vilas), is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, along with Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United).
Paswan’s criticism
On July 26, Paswan had publicly criticised Nitish Kumar, saying, “I feel sorry to be supporting the government in Bihar, which is failing on the law and order front like this. The way crime is happening in Bihar, the administration has totally bowed down before criminals.”
Paswan has repeatedly flagged law and order concerns in the state. His recent remarks raised questions: Is he hurting Nitish Kumar and the NDA by openly criticising the Chief Minister? Or is there a deeper political strategy at play — possibly aligned with the BJP — to sideline Nitish?
With elections just months away, Paswan has expressed his intention to contest the state polls. Speaking at a rally in Arrah, he said, “Everyone wants to know if I will contest the Assembly polls. Let me announce that I will contest the polls, all 243 seats. I will not contest for myself but for the people of Bihar… I am leaving it to you to decide from which seat I should contest.”
Paswan’s past poll performance
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, Paswan’s party broke away from the NDA and fielded candidates in 134 of the 243 seats. Notably, the LJP contested against the JD(U) in all those constituencies but avoided contesting against the BJP.
Though the LJP managed to win only one seat, it significantly cut into JD(U)’s vote share in over two dozen seats. As a result, the BJP won 74 of the 110 seats it contested, while the JD(U) could secure only 43 of 115. The LJP’s lone MLA later switched to Nitish’s party.
The BJP’s strike rate stood at 67.3% (74 out of 110), whereas the JD(U)’s was much lower at 37.4% (43 out of 115).
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Paswan’s party rejoined the NDA and won all five seats it contested — Vaishali, Hajipur, Samastipur, Khagaria, and Jamui — with a vote share of 6.5%. These five Lok Sabha constituencies cover 30 assembly segments, a sizable number that could influence the formation of the next state government.
Seat-sharing negotiations within the NDA are currently underway.
Vote Vibe survey
According to the Vote Vibe July survey, conducted between July 8 and 11, Chirag Paswan ranked fourth among preferred candidates for Chief Minister.
He polled 9.4% of respondents, behind Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, and Prashant Kishor — but ahead of the BJP’s Samrat Choudhary and the Congress’s Rajesh Ram.
