In a day of fast-paced political developments, JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar broke alliance with the BJP in Bihar on Tuesday, resigned as the state’s chief minister and shook hands with erstwhile rival Tejashwi Yadav from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to form a new government.
Within hours of breaking free from the BJP yet again, Nitish marched to Governor Phagu Chauhan’s office to stake claim. He was accompanied by Tejashwi with whom he had hours-long deliberations at Rabri Devi’s residence. The other parties supporting the two are the Congress, CPI(ML), CPM, CPI, HAM(S), AIMIM.
Nitish is likely to take oath as Bihar’s chief minister again today afternoon (2 pm) at the Raj Bhavan, according to a tweet by the RJD.
Sources said while Nitish will have the power to choose ministers, Tejashwi will be his deputy. They are said to have worked out broad parameters of their alliance, with the speaker being chosen from the RJD.
Nitish said he submitted a list of 164 MLAs to the Governor. The effective strength of the state Assembly is 242 and the magic figure is 122.
Nitish later said, “Tejashwi will take care of Bihar.” Reciprocating the praise, Tejashwi said, “Nitish ji is the most experienced and most mature chief minister in the country. Only he can challenge Narendra Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as PM candidate.”
He reminded the media about the Quit India movement launched on August 9, 1942, and said, “Today is the Quit BJP day.” He alleged the BJP acted like decoy ducks and always destroyed its companion, be it Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena or Punjab with the Akali Dal. “It wanted to destroy Janta Dal in Bihar,” he said.
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, however, lashed out at Nitish’s decision to resign and stake claim to form a government with Opposition parties, saying that “he has disrespected the mandate of Bihar’s people”.
Addressing a short presser in Patna today, Prasad said, “Nitish Kumar has left and said that the BJP was trying to destroy his party... The BJP made him a union minister several times. He was also made a Chief Minister. Why did he rethink his decision on alliance with the RJD in 2015 and come to BJP in 2017?”
Nitish’s bridge with the BJP has been burning for quite some time now; first over consistent denial of special status to Bihar, and then after his name was missing from the invitation for the Vidhan Sabha’s centenary celebrations. The nail in the coffin was the alleged bid to cause a vertical split in Nitish’s JD(U) using RCP Singh just like Eknath Shinde in Maharashtra.
JD(U) members said there is proof that Home Minister Amit Shah used Singh to plot against Nitish, so much so that, if successful, Nitish would have lost control of the party just like Uddhav Thackeray lost in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, Nitish’s meeting on Tuesday evening with the Governor was also to be attended by Tejashwi and other opposition parties like the Left and the Congress, who have reportedly expressed interest in supporting the new government led by Nitish.
