Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday drove down to the residence of Union minister Chirag Paswan to partake ‘kharna prasad’, which devotees consume before embarking on a grueling 36-hour-long fast as part of Chhath Puja.
Pictures of the JD(U) supremo at his Shri Krishna Puri residence in Patna were shared on social media by Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).
“Thank you, honourable Chief Minister, for coming to my home and partaking of Kharna Prasad. My family and I are grateful for the good wishes you expressed during the meeting,” he posted on X.
The photographs show Kumar with Paswan and his close family members, including mother Reena and brother-in-law Arun Bharti, the LJP(R) MP from Jamui, the Lok Sabha seat the Union Minister had represented twice before shifting base to Hajipur, his father’s pocket borough.
He also dismissed the opposition’s claims of a rift between the JD(U) and his party.
“I would especially like to thank CM Nitish Kumar ji, as on the second day of the Chhath festival he came and ate Prasad here. This holds great significance for me. Regarding seat sharing, narratives were being set by the opposition suggesting that the CM was upset and there was tension between JDU and LJP… I want to clarify that this is not true; there has never been any problem between the two parties,” Paswan told news agency PTI.
This year, the four-day Chhath festival, dedicated to Lord Surya (Sun), is being celebrated from October 25 to October 28. The festival began with Nahay-Khay on Saturday, followed by Kharna on Sunday, continues with Sandhya Arghya on Monday, and concludes with the Usha Arghya and Parana rituals on Tuesday.
The Chief Minister’s visit to the LJP chief’s house in the midst of the assembly elections demonstrates the NDA’s unity and quells rampant speculation about leadership conflicts within the NDA, following their past friction.
Earlier, Paswan affirmed the coalition’s leadership and said, “We are going to the elections under the leadership of Nitish Kumar ji, and Nitish Kumar ji, of course, will be the Chief Minister.”
In a recent interview, Paswan said that his party is contesting elections for the first time to make Nitish Kumar the Chief Minister. The LJP has never before contested elections in alliance with the JD(U).
Under the seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Bihar assembly polls, the JD(U) and the BJP will contest 101 seats each, while Paswan’s LJP (R) has been given 29 seats. The smaller allies, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) , will contest six seats each.
The elections to the Bihar Assembly will be conducted in two phases, covering all 243 constituencies in the state. The first phase of polling will take place on November 6 for 121 constituencies, while the second phase on November 11 will cover the remaining 122 constituencies. The counting of votes will be held on November 14.
