Amid a wave of speculations regarding yet another flip-flop by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar following his meeting with RJD leader and former ally Tejashwi Yadav, he described his earlier decisions to align with Lalu Yadav-led outfit as a “mistake which I committed twice” and affirmed that he would not do it again. His remarks cleared the air around meeting the former INDIA bloc partner at the state secretariat in Patna on September 3.
“Going with RJD was my mistake, I committed this mistake twice but will no more repeat it again. We have been with the BJP from the beginning. We won't go anywhere else. We will continue to stay with the BJP. All the work in Bihar has been done by the BJP and JDU alliance,” Nitish Kumar said.
What triggered the speculations?
Nitish Kumar's recent meeting with Tejashwi fuelled speculations of yet another flip-flop that would leave the NDA government at the Centre worried. JDU is one of the biggest ally in the current NDA administration in New Delhi and his withdrawal of support may put the BJP, which failed to secure a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, in a spot of bother. Though TDP, another big ally in the alliance, would still keep the government in power.
Amid the developments, BJP national president and Union Minister JP Nadda arrived in Bihar on a two-day visit on Friday where he would hold meetings with the party leaders and also with the Chief Minister.
Nitish Kumar's previous U-turns
Nitish Kumar had first ended the decades-old ties with the NDA in June 2013 after the BJP announced Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat Chief Minister, as the prime ministerial face in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. He quit the Mahagathbandhan in 2017 alleging corruption by Tejashwi Yadav. He joined hands with the BJP again.
In August 2022, he once again quit the NDA and joined the Mahagathbandhan and formed government with RJD and others.
Ahead of the general elections in the country, Nitish Kumar sent shock to the INDIA bloc as he walked out of the Opposition alliance in January this year, just months before the beginning of the Lok Sabha Elections in which the Opposition had hoped to dislodge the BJP and NDA from power.
