NDA leaders gather at BJP chief's residence to celebrate Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth centenary

BJP president J P Nadda. (Pic/PTI)

Leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) convened at the residence of BJP president J P Nadda in New Delhi on Wednesday to commemorate the birth centenary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, reported news agency PTI.

The meeting brought together prominent figures, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, JD-U leader and Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Apna Dal (S) president and Union Minister Anupriya Patel, as well as JD (S) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

In Photos: President Murmu, PM Modi join prayer ceremony to pay tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee

9 hours agoPHOTO GALLERY

In addition to these leaders, the gathering also included Bihar's Hindustani Awam Morcha (S) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) president Upendra Kushwaha, a Rajya Sabha MP, and Thushar Vellappally, president of Bharath Dharma Jana Sena, PTI reported.

The meeting, however, did not release any official statement regarding its agenda, though sources indicated that discussions centered around good governance and various political issues.

Good governance was a key theme of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, and the NDA members aimed to reflect on this legacy during their discussions. PTI reported.

It was also decided to hold an alliance meeting annually to honour the contributions of Vajpayee, who is renowned for successfully leading the first coalition government in India for its full term.

This gathering comes at a crucial time as the NDA focuses on the proposal for simultaneous elections, with all constituent parties expressing their support for this initiative.

Furthermore, a Joint Parliamentary Committee has been constituted to examine two bills related to simultaneous polls, with its first meeting scheduled for January 8.

CM Nitish Kumar to lead NDA in 2025 state polls

The NDA will contest the Assembly polls in Bihar next year under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary said on Sunday.

Elections to the 243-member Bihar Assembly are due in late 2025. Choudhary said, "The NDA is working under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bihar and we will continue to contest elections under the leadership of both leaders."

"There is no confusion," he said during a press conference at the BJP headquarters when asked to comment on speculation that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) could do a rethink on projecting Kumar as its leader in the polls.

He was responding to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent interview to a news channel in which he was asked if the NDA could go to the polls in Bihar without declaring a chief ministerial candidate, like it recently did with great success in Maharashtra.

(With agency inputs)