Nitish Kumar Updates Today: Nitish dumps BJP, returns to Grand Alliance, stakes claim

Before Nitish submitted his resignation to Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan in the afternoon, the JD(U) and RJD held separate meetings with their MLAs. The RJD reposed faith in Nitish’s leadership and did not put any pre-condition for extending him support to form a government. The Congress and CPI (M-L) had already offered their support to Nitish on Monday.

Nitish met the Governor again in the evening along with Tejashwi, carrying signed letters of support from all allies to form the next government. The Governor is yet to decide on a date for the swearing-in ceremony.

After emerging from the Raj Bhavan, Nitish said, “I have nothing much to say on how suffocated we felt in the NDA… There was a dominant view in the party about snapping ties with BJP. Now, the Grand Alliance has seven parties.”

Taking a swipe at the BJP, he said, “Everyone knew what kind of an atmosphere was being built. We will continue to work for BIhar.”

Asked if he aspired to become a PM candidate, he said, “I have a mandate to work for Bihar.”

Tejashwi said, “In the entire Hindi heartland, the BJP has no ally now. It is all because the BJP tries to finish its ally… Hamare purkhon ki virasat koi aur lega kya? (Can someone else hijack our legacy?)… I am happy Nitish Kumar decided to come back to us. We thank Lalu ji. He is the one who stopped L K Advani’s rath. We will not allow the BJP to fulfill its agenda.”

He called Nitish “the most experienced CM in the country”. Asked if Nitish will be a PM candidate in the 2024 polls, he said: “I leave this question to Nitish Kumar ji… Bihar will continue to move forward under his leadership… We are chacha-bhatija, we fought each other and we are together again.”

Earlier, as Nitish’s car moved inside Raj Bhavan, a small group of JD (U) supporters, waving party flags, chanted slogans of “Desh ka Pradhan Mantri kaisa ho, Nitish Kumar jaisa ho.” He returned from Raj Bhavan within 15 minutes and made a brief statement to the media that he had tendered his resignation to the Governor.

Sources said Tejashwi will be the lone Deputy CM in the new government. Although the Congress also hopes to get a Deputy CM position, Nitish is unlikely to agree, sources said, adding that there could be too many power centres.

Dumped by Nitish a second time, the BJP pointed to his “habit” of political somersaults. BJP leader and Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said, “Nitish Kumar is a perennial ‘Paltu Ram’ (turncoat). No one can trust him now. People of Bihar are going to see another round of jungle raj.”

Neither the BJP’s central leadership nor its state unit tried to dissuade Nitish from ending the alliance. Nitish had snapped ties with the NDA in June 2013 but had returned in July 2017 after being in power with the RJD for 20 months.

Several BJP leaders called the break-up with Nitish “good riddance”.

PTI adds: At a press conference in Patna, former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Nitish of inconsistency in beliefs.

“You talk about communalism but you aligned with us in the 1990s when the Ayodhya movement was at its peak. You fought with us against Lalu Prasad on the issue of his involvement in fodder scam. In 2013, your personal dislike for Narendra Modi made you leave us and join hands with the RJD president,” Prasad said.

“You left the RJD in 2017 after Tejashwi Yadav’s name cropped up in a corruption case. You are now pushing Bihar back into the era of lawlessness and corruption which you claimed credit for bringing the state out of,” alleged the Patna Sahib MP.

Speaking at the same press conference, state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal alleged that Kumar was a “habitual betrayer” (‘aadatan dhokhebaaz’) who will be punished by the people of Bihar for betraying the “mandates of 2019 (Lok Sabha polls) and 2020 (Assembly elections)”.