Happy to have Nitish, a natural ally, back in NDA: J P Nadda

Patna: BJP president J P Nadda on Sunday described Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as a "natural alliance partner", expressing happiness over his return to the NDA.

Addressing a press conference after Kumar's swearing in, where three BJP leaders also took oath, Nadda exuded confidence that the coalition will "sweep" the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"The people of Bihar had given the mandate in the last assembly polls to our natural alliance with Nitish Kumar. We are happy to have him back. Bihar has enjoyed stability whenever we have shared power. Things have looked up, be it infrastructure or law and order,” he said.

"Today marks a fresh march towards ‘Ujjwal’ (bright) Bihar. The state will again see growth propelled by a double engine under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership,” the BJP chief said.

He also said "we are confident that the NDA will sweep the Lok Sabha polls and win all the 40 seats in Bihar. We will form the next government in the state after assembly polls".

Nadda mocked the INDIA bloc, which Kumar had helped form while he was in the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, calling the anti-BJP front "conceptually flawed".

"The alliance is unholy and unscientific. It was formed with the motto ‘parivar bachao’ (protect the dynasty) and ‘property bachao’, to shield those accused of corruption and to pursue politics of appeasement,” said Nadda in an apparent jibe at RJD chief Lalu Prasad, whose party lost power in the upheaval in Bihar.

Training his guns at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the BJP president said last year's ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ yielded no results, "so now he has taken out a ‘Bharat Todo Anyay Yatra’".