Quelling speculations of a rift in the ruling alliance in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the Janata Dal (United) will contest the Assembly elections, scheduled at the end of next year, with the BJP.

At its national executive meet in Patna on Sunday, party leaders, however, said Nitish will remain the face of the NDA in the state elections.

“Don't be confused. We will remain in the alliance with the NDA. We will contest next year’s Assembly elections together,” Kumar told JD(U) leaders in a meeting.

“It’s because of the better coordination between the NDA that we won 39 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. What’s more impressive is that only on four constituencies, our winning margin was less than 50,000 votes,” he added.