Nitish Kumar is set to take oath as Bihar’s eighth chief minister on Wednesday. He submitted his resignation to Governor Phagu Chauhan and submitted a list of 164 MLAs and claimed the support of seven parties to form a new government in Bihar. Nitish Kumar dumped former ally BJP to walk out of the NDA and into the Mahagathbandhan.
It is being speculated that the immediate trigger for Nitish Kumar’s decision was the BJP’s alleged attempt to poach JD(U) MLAs. This was apparently an attempt to weaken Kumar’s hold on his party and consequently the alliance government. Rajiv Ranjan Singh recently alleged that a ‘conspiracy’ was hatched in 2020 to ‘cut Nitish to size using the Chirag [Paswan] model’.
The JD(U) and the BJP’s alliance in Bihar have collapsed because of differences over a number of issues, including the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the use of loudspeakers in religious places. The recent comment by BJP president JP Nadda that regional parties had a bleak future added to the anger against the BJP.
BJP CRIES BETRAYAL
BJP leader Sanjay Jaiswal said that Nitish Kumar has betrayed the mandate of the people. Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij took a dig at Kumar by saying that he is like a migratory bird and can change direction in a matter of days. It is their nature to jump from one branch to another. ‘By mistake some birds have gathered on a branch’, Vij said.
THE RJD’S TAKE ON THE BIHAR POLITICAL DRAMA
Tejashwi Yadav accuses the saffron party of destroying its alliance partners in states such as Punjab and Maharashtra. Look at what they do to allies. According to him, the BJP has no alliance partners in the Hindi heartland. Kumar formed the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (Grand Alliance) with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress in 2015. He left that alliance in 2017, but returned to the NDA and clung to his seat.
WHO GETS WHAT
While confirmation on ministerial berths has yet to be announced, sources say Tejashwi Yadav will be appointed Deputy Chief Minister and the Speaker will be chosen from his party, the RJD. According to sources, Tejashwi Yadav has also applied for the Home Ministry, which is currently held by Kumar. Other alliance partners, such as the Left and the Congress, are expected to be included in Nitish Kumar’s new government.
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