The political scenario of Bihar has changed overnight. Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) has pulled out of the NDA alliance. He resigned from the post of Chief Minister of the state on Tuesday announcing his departure from the BJP. This time, Nitish Kumar is going to form a new government in grand alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress.
Nitish Kumar is scheduled to take oath again as the Chief Minister of Bihar on Wednesday afternoon. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Tejashwi Yadav is the deputy chief minister in his cabinet. Nitish’s new cabinet will have ministers from other parties including the Congress. But they will take oath later.
Indian media and politicians feel that Nitish Kumar no longer wants to be confined to state politics. He wants to leave the state and enter the national politics. That is why he basically left the BJP. This JDU leader wants to leave the BJP and directly fight against Narendra Modi He wants to be the prime ministerial candidate from the opposition
Earlier on Tuesday, Nitish met the governor twice. He informed the governor that he will not stay with BJP anymore. Before resigning, he held a meeting with his party’s legislators and members of parliament. Later in the afternoon, he submitted his resignation letter to the Governor.
A couple of hours later, Nitish Kumar will meet the governor for the second time along with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Tejashwi Yadav for permission to form a new government excluding the BJP. He said that he has the support of seven parties including JDU, RJD, Congress, Left and one independent party. At that time, he demanded the formation of a new government by stating that two-thirds of the legislators have the support of the Bihar Assembly.
Nitish became the Chief Minister for the first time after ending the Yadav dynasty in Bihar almost a decade and a half ago. RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari has seen the JDU leader closely for a long time.
The veteran politician said that despite being the Chief Minister, Nitish’s bird’s eye was the Prime Ministership. Therefore, Nitish was particularly careful from the very beginning to maintain his secular image even with an alliance with a party like the BJP. Due to this, the situation of moral pollution of the BJP leadership was created with him several times. But even then, Nitish did not move away from the minority.
According to politicians, Nitish’s first exit from the NDA was also eyeing that prime ministership. In 2013, Nitish left the NDA for the first time as the BJP announced Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for the next year’s Lok Sabha elections. His aim at that time was that if the non-Congress parties did well after the polls, he would claim the Prime Ministership as the leader of that alliance with the support of the Congress. But Modi’s landslide victory in the 2014 elections watershed Nitish’s plans. On the contrary, Nitish’s party won only two out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. Realizing the real situation, Nitish was forced to return to the NDA alliance.
India’s Lok Sabha elections are coming again. Nitish would have been the Chief Minister of Bihar till 2025 if the alliance with BJP was maintained in Bihar. But in this case, his dream of becoming a prime ministerial candidate would have remained elusive. Meanwhile, BJP is gradually increasing its strength in Bihar. Nitish’s political career will become virtually irrelevant if the JDU emerges as the third majority party in Bihar. And Nitish has taken planned steps to prevent it.
According to the JDU leadership, Nitish aims to project himself as the main face of the opposition camp in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections of 2024. That’s why he left NDA and joined hands with UPA.
In Nitish’s offer to RJD, he expressed his desire to remain the Chief Minister of Bihar till 2024. And Nitish’s wish is that Tejashwi Yadav becomes the chief minister in the last year, so that the grand alliance can fight in the 2025 assembly elections under the leadership of the young leader.
