NDTV Exclusive - What Nitish Kumar Asked Chirag Paswan On Stage During PM Rally

At a rally in Bihar's Siwan earlier this month, several leaders were seen gathered on stage, waiting for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrive. Amid this, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was seen deep in conversation with Union Minister Chirag Paswan. NDTV now knows what transpired between the two.

Nitish Kumar asked Mr Paswan if he was going to contest the Bihar Assembly Elections, and if he was, then from where.

In a conversation with NDTV, Mr Paswan said, "When the PM was about to come on the stage, we were standing together. Chief Minister Nitish (Kumar) was there, Lalan Singh ji was there, and other leaders were also present. He never asked not to contest the elections. When we were talking, he was also sharing his experience of how he worked at the centre, and then he came to the state."

Chirag Paswan's desire, which he revealed recently, to contest polls in his home state was not well received by the Chief Minister's party.

"I definitely want to contest the elections, and I have said this everywhere. Whether I will contest the elections or not will be decided by my party. The party itself will deliberate on whether the party will benefit from me contesting the elections," he said.

The 42-year-old said that Nitish Kumar also asked him about his wish to contest the assembly elections - likely in November - even as he was already a Union Minister.

Nitish Kumar also said that in the coming days, Mr Paswan was going to have a big role in Bihar politics. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president told Nitish Kumar that he would contest the assembly elections only if the party and the people of Bihar wanted him to. He also said that if that happens, he would come to seek the blessings of the Chief Minister of Bihar.

The conversation can be read in many ways - 1st, Nitish Kumar's party JD(U) was unable to understand why Chirag Paswan wants to contest the upcoming elections - could it spoil their poll calculation? There's also another speculation that Mr Paswan was playing the politics of pressure in the NDA so that he could get more seats.

However, the Hajipur MP has insisted that he wasn't concerned about the number of seats, and he only wants winnable seats.

Mr Kumar's question for Mr Paswan is evidence of sorts that Chirag Paswan remains a puzzle for the JDU. Especially, since he has been saying that he wanted to contest the Bihar assembly elections, but hasn't even revealed his cards and has been putting the onus on the party.

This will also be the first assembly election when Mr Paswan and his party will seek votes for Nitish Kumar. 

The LJP leader is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition that runs the federal government. His party has five Lok Sabha MPs. In the last election, Chirag Paswan fought alone and ruined the poll plan of the JDU. In the last election, Nitish Kumar's JDU and Lalu Prasad's RJD fought the polls together. Mr Paswan was a BJP ally at that time, too.  But this time around, he would have to convince the voters to vote for Nitish Kumar. 

In the Lok Sabha polls, Mr Paswan sought votes in the name of PM Modi, but in the Bihar assembly polls, he will have to seek votes in the name of the Chief Minister. On a surface level, what seems like a non-issue could translate into a problem. Mr Paswan has been vocal about the policies of the Bihar government, especially on the issues of Dalits and law and order - issues that could inconvenience the JD(U).