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News Bihar Nitish Kumar: With 4th switch as CM in the span of 18 years, how JD-U chief controls Bihar politics

Nitish Kumar: With 4th switch as CM in the span of 18 years, how JD-U chief controls Bihar politics

Nitish Kumar, who took oath as chief minister for a record ninth time, and the third time since the 2020 assembly polls, has remained at the center stage since 2005 when he wrested power by defeating the RJD government led by Lalu Prasad Yadav's wife Rabri Devi.

JD-U chief Nitish Kumar Image Source : ANIJD-U chief Nitish Kumar
Written By: Raju Kumar
January 28, 2024 21:30 IST

Nitish Kumar on Sunday took oath as chief minister of Bihar for the record 9th time in over two decades. In his dramatic fourth switch, he formed the government with foe-turned-friend Bharatiya Janata Party which caused irreparable damage to I.N.D.I.A bloc which was a brainchild of Kumar himself.

Earlier, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar submitted his resignation to Governor Rajendra V Arlekar on Sunday morning. The Governor accepted Kumar's resignation and asked him to continue as caretaker CM till a new government is formed. Kumar was accompanied by senior minister Bijendra Yadav of the JD(U) when he went to the Raj Bhavan. Kumar submitted his resignation after chairing a meeting with party MLAs at his official residence.

 
Interestingly, Bihar got the ninth fresh team under Nitish's leadership in over two decades. Each time, the cabinet sees a complete facelift but Nitish remains at the helm in the Bihar government.

According to Nitish, "things were not working well" for him in the Mahagathbandhan and the opposition bloc I.N.D.I.A, which he had dumped less than 18 months ago. He was also not happy with the Congress' laxity on the progress of the newly formed opposition bloc which was a brainchild of Nitish. JD-U claimed that Congress attempted to hijack the initiative which was began by Nitish. The Bihar ruling party also accused the Congress of hatching conspiracy with TMC chief Mamata Banerjee by announcing Mallikarjun Kharge's name for PM post. In the state, Nitish was uncomfortable with Tejashwi as he took credit for creating jobs in the state. Prasad's son Tejashwi Yadav was the Deputy CM in the outgoing government and his Singapore-based elder sister Rohini Acharya came out with a flurry of posts on X, lampooning the JD(U) president whom she did not mention by name. The 72-year-old leader indicated that he was not feeling happy with the I.N.D.I.A bloc that he helped take shape but which failed to adequately recognise his efforts.

Tejashwi's elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav was also a cabinet minister. The RJD, despite having the largest number of 79 MLAs in Bihar assembly, including Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, who is the Speaker, did not stake claim. The party seems to have latched on to the opportunity for projecting the image of Tejashwi Yadav. Full page advertisements saying "Dhanyawad (thank you) Tejashwi" were put out in newspapers here by the party which showered encomiums on the 34-year-old leader for having played his role well since becoming the Deputy CM in August 2022.

Nitish made an indirect reference to the deafening silence he had maintained over the political turmoil that had engulfed the state for the past few days, leaving his allies wondering about his current move.

He took the step after a meeting of the JD(U) legislature party, which authorised him to take any decision about the alliance. 

Nitish revives his 'Paltu Ram' tag after fourth switch

He first took oath as the state's chief minister in 2000, when his government fell within a week. He was back as CM in 2005, and returned to power five years later. In May, 2014, he stepped down but returned eight months later, elbowing out his then protégé Jitan Ram Manjhi and was back as the CM in November 2015, when the coalition of JD(U), RJD and Congress won the assembly elections. In 2017, he resigned, only to form a new government with the BJP in less than years and returned as CM after the 2020 assembly polls, which the NDA won but in which the JD(U) performed badly. Nitish had joined the Mahagathbandhan in August 2022, when he had snapped ties with the BJP accusing it of trying to "split" his JD(U). He formed a new government with a multi-party coalition that included RJD, Congress and three Left parties.
 
In the current 243-member Bihar Assembly, JD(U) has 44 MLAs and the BJP 78. Kumar also has the support of one Independent member. Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha, which is already a part of the NDA, has four MLAs. RJD (79) along with the Congress (19) and the Left parties (16) have a combined 114 MLAs, eight short of a majority.
 
In his new team, Nitish got 8-member, including two deputies - Samrat Choudhary, Vijay Kumar Sinha. A total of 8 leaders took oath as cabinet ministers in the new government, three from BJP – Samrat Choudhary, Vijay Kumar Sinha, Prem Kumar and three from JD-U – Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Shrawon Kumar. Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) president Santosh Kumar Suman and independent MLA Sumit Kumar Singh also took oath as ministers.