Amit Shah meets CM Nitish Kumar ahead of Bihar Polls

Patna (Bihar) [India], October 17 (ANI): As Bihar gears up for the Assembly elections, Union Minister Amit Shah on Friday met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at his residence in Patna, on the final day of nominations for the first phase of polls to the 243-member state legislature.
Polling for the Bihar elections 2025 will take place on November 6 and 11. The results will be announced on November 14.
The NDA has finalised its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, with the BJP and Janata Dal (United) set to contest 101 constituencies each. Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) have been allotted six seats each, while Union Minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will contest on 29 seats.
On Thursday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party's star campaigner, Yogi Adityanath, entered Bihar's election battlefield, addressing rallies in support of the BJP's Ramkripal Yadav (Danapur) and the NDA's Shyam Rajak (Phulwari Sharif).
Meanwhile, the Congress party released its first list of 48 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Legislative Assembly elections.
According to an official statement from Thursday, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Rajesh Ram will contest from the Kutumba Assembly seat, while Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan will fight from the Kadwa constituency.
Out of the total 48 candidates, 24 will be contested in the first phase of elections and 24 in the second phase. The party said that the remaining names will be announced in due course.
On Thursday, Amit Shah said, Lalu Prasad Yadav has "no right" to ask an account of the work done by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar. He should instead look at the account of the murders, kidnappings, and ransom cases during his tenure.
While taking a jibe at the Opposition parties and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Shah dared the leaders to prove if they have even done even 1/10th of the work of NDA during their own tenure.
"Today I will ask the Opposition. Forget half of whatever we have done. If you have done even a tenth of the work, then stand at the crossroads of Patna, the president of our youth wing will take you on two-on-two. What account is Lalu ji asking for? If he wants to demand an account, then only for murder, kidnapping, or ransom can he ask that. How can you ask an account for road, houses, toilets?", Shah said.
While criticising RJD for allegedly doing dismal work in the state, Minister Shah highlighted how the NDA has constructed new airports, made the Makhana Board, and also worked for controlling the flooding of the Kosi River.
"Look at the situation of airports you had left them at, we made new ones, at Gaya, Purnea, and now another new airport is being made, that is what we have done. We have made the Makhana board. For dealing with the Kosi River's floods, we have allotted more than Rs 26,000 crore from the Indian government's budget. We have made roads worth Rs 3 lakh crore," Shah said.
He remarked that the NDA has also ensured that electricity and water reach every house in Bihar.
"If electricity has reached every house of Bihar, it is the Nitish Kumar government. When water has reached houses, the Narendra Modi government has done that", Shah added. (ANI)