Nitish Kumar is the man of the moment. He decided to checkmate and dump the BJP which reportedly, was “trying to topple the Nitish Kumar-led alliance a la Maharashtra style.” And in RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, he found a ready partner.
As of now, Bihar is set to welcome Nitish Kumar as CM, Wednesday. This will be his eighth oath as Bihar CM in a span of 22 years. Tejashwi Yadav will be Deputy CM while the Assembly Speaker will be from the RJD. It has all been worked out.
Earlier in the day, Nitish Kumar met Governor Phagu Chauhan and tendered his resignation. This is the second time that the Nitish Kumar-led party has snapped ties with BJP in eight years. This morning, the JD(U) and the Opposition RJD held separate meetings of their MLAs in Patna. Meanwhile, in a tweet in Hindi, JD(U) Parliamentary board president, Upendra Kushwaha congratulated Nitish Kumar for the “leadership of a new alliance in a new form.”
Now, Nitish Kumar is no newcomer to alliances. Interestingly, he has joined hands with the same Tejashwi Yadav, who was the reason for him to walk away from the gathbandhan in 2017. Political watchdogs recall how Kumar had ditched the RJD for the BJP because he felt that “Lalu ke larke sab jagah hain…” indicating that the JD(U) would be relegated to secondary status. He was also vocal about the plethora of scams that the RJD was riddled with.
However, after the two-day quick turn of events starting Monday (read Bihar Chink In BJP’s Armour Can Be Game Changer For 2024 for more), seems the BJP-led alliance in Bihar has ended. Tuesday saw Nitish and Tejashwi walk together to Rabri Devi’s residence to seek blessings. Added, Nitish Kumar met the governor and claimed support of seven parties on one Independent. “We have 169 behind us. This step was taken in concurrence with all JD(U) members,” claimed Kumar.
The BJP was left fuming and at a short press conference called in Patna. BJP Bihar president Sanjay Jaiswal said that whatever happened was an “insult to the mandate of the people of Bihar.”
Here’s a quick look at Nitish Kumar’s flip-flops:
1996: Kumar joined hands with the BJP and was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet. Then Janata Dal president Sharad Yadav and Lalu Prasad had a spat and the latter broke away and formed the RJD.
2000: Kumar was elected to office, however, he resigned after taking the oath. The NDA and allies had 151 seats, Prasad’s RJD had 159, both falling short of the required 163 seats.
2003: The Samata Party merged with Sharad Yadav’s Janata Dal, while continuing its alliance with the BJP. The Janata Dal (United) was formed, with Kumar at the helm.
2005: Kumar’s JD(U), in alliance with the BJP, came back to power as an NDA member.
2010: Kumar’s party came to power along with ally, the BJP, and he again became the CM.
2013: He snapped his party’s 17-year-old ties with the BJP in 2013, when Narendra Modi was anointed the BJP’s campaign committee chief for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. After parting ways with the BJP, he won a trust vote with support from the Congress, but stepped down in 2014, owning moral responsibility for the JD(U)’s tally of two in the Lok Sabha elections. In less than a year, Kumar was back as the chief minister, pushing out his rebel protégé Jitan Ram Manjhi with support from the RJD and the Congress.
2017: The Grand Alliance of the JD(U), Congress and RJD won the 2017 assembly polls, but collapsed in just two years over Lalu’s son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav’s name cropping up in a money laundering case.
Kumar broke the alliance, resigned as the chief minister as the RJD refused to budge, only to be back in the office in less than 24 hours with the BJP’s support.
2022: Back with the RJD again
Also Read: Bihar Chink In BJP’s Armour Can Be Game Changer For 2024
