The Shiv Sena on Wednesday said that Nitish Kumar should thank the party led by Uddhav Thackeray for retaining the post of Bihar chief minister despite his party winning fewer seats in the Assembly polls than ally BJP.
The party in its mouthpiece 'Saamana' noted that former BJP president Amit Shah had to declare well ahead of the elections that Nitish Kumar will be the Chief Minister irrespective of the numbers. It added that Shah had made a similar promise to the Shiv Sena in 2019.
"But the BJP didn't keep its promise,"it said. "Nitish Kumar should credit the Shiv Sena for the Chief Minister post because the promise made to him is now being kept by the BJP," the Marathi daily said.
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Earlier on Tuesday evening, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that Nitish Kumar should pay attention to what happened in Maharashtra in October last.
The reference was to the dramatic turn of events that followed October-November 2019 Assembly elections in Maharashtra. The BJP and Shiv Sena contested elections together winning a handsome majority. But the two fell out after later demanded the CM's chair for 2.5 years on rotation basis. The demand was categorically turned down by the saffron party. The Shiv Sena then alleged that the BJP was refusing to honour its pre-poll promise. It then sided with then rivals Congress and NCP to form the government. The BJP maintained that it never promised Sena the CM post.
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But in Bihar, the BJP had publicly declared that Nitish Kumar will be the CM irrespective of the numbers. The party on Tuesday night said that it will keep its promise of making Nitish the Chief Minister for another term despite his party is the junior partner.
While the BJP has gained substantially this time, the JDU of Nitish Kumar faced the public's anger. The BJP has secured 74 seats while the JDU has settled with just 43, meaning the saffron party is the 'big brother' this time. This is perhaps the first time when the BJP has an upper hand over JDU. Junior partners Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Vikassheel Insaan Party have won 4 seats each.
