Patna: Proving once again that in politics there are no permanent friends or foes, JD(U) president Nitish Kumar on Sunday resigned as the Chief Minister of Bihar, saying "things were not working well" for him in the Mahagathbandhan and the opposition bloc INDIA, and staked claim to form a new government with the BJP, which he had dumped less than 18 months ago.
Nitish is all set to take oath as Chief Minister for the ninth time at around 5 pm on Sunday. He has already been elected as the NDA leader in the Bihar Legislative Assembly. As of now, he has the support of 128 MLAs including that from his own JDU, BJP, HAM and 4 Independents. BJP's Samrat Chowdhury and Vijay Sinha will be his Deputies.
Talking to reporters here after submitting his resignation to Governor Rajendra Arlekar, Nitish said: "I have submitted my resignation to the Governor. The government that was in place now comes to an end. I have let it go".
The 72-year-old leader indicated that he was not feeling happy with the way things were in the Mahagathbandhan in the state as well as the INDIA bloc that he helped take shape but which failed to adequately recognise his efforts.
'I have left INDIA alliance. You all know how I came to this alliance and also how I worked to bring together so many parties. But of late things were not working well. It was not going down well with those in my party as well", he said.
At the state BJP headquarters, the party's in-charge Vinod Tawde said: "We had gathered here to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat. After the programme. Later a proposal was moved to support the JD(U) and form an NDA government which was unanimously accepted by all MLAs".
Tawde also said that state BJP president Samrat Choudhary and former Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha have been named as leader and deputy leader, respectively of the legislative party. Both leaders, who are tipped to become Deputy Chief Ministers in the new government, thanked the top leadership for the opportunity and vowed to "protect Bihar from the jungle raj unleashed by Lalu Prasad's RJD".
Tawde and Choudhary later visited Nitish's residence from where they all went to the Raj Bhavan, staking claim to form the new government. Prasad's son Tejashwi Yadav was the Deputy CM in the outgoing government and the latter's elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav was a cabinet minister.
In an apparent dig at Kuma, Prasad's daughter Rohini Acharya said the "garbage has gone into the dustbin". "Garbage goes back into the dustbin. Happy stinking garbage to the group", Acharya posted on 'X'. The RJD, despite having the largest number of 79 MLAs in Bihar assembly, including Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, who is the Speaker, seems unwilling to stake claim.
The party seems to have latched on to the opportunity to promote 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.
The Congress said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP are scared of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and the political drama over Nitish Kumar's exit from the Mahagathbandhan was created to divert attention from it. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said it is all about 'Aaya Ram Gaya Ram'.
"Bihar Dy CM (Tejashwi Yadav) and Lalu Prasad Yadav had hinted regarding this and today it became true. 'Aise desh mein bahut saare log hein, aaya ram gaya ram'...," Kharge said. "If he wanted to stay, he would have stayed but he wants to go. That's why we already knew this, but to keep the India Alliance intact, if we say something wrong, the wrong message will be sent," he added.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh criticised Nitish's volte-face, branding him as an "expert in betraying", and emphasised the irony of his decision to join the BJP-led NDA camp after being instrumental in conceptualising the opposition bloc INDIA. Ramesh remarked that Nitish's tendency to change political colours rivals that of chameleons and suggested that the political upheaval in Bihar is a tactic to divert attention from the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, scheduled to enter Bihar on Monday.
The CPI(ML) Liberation, which supported the Mahagathbandhan government from the outside, launched a blistering attack on Nitish, accusing him of "betrayal". In an acerbic Facebook post, the party's general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya alleged that Nitish, "who has had the longest stint as CM", will be used by the RSS-BJP combine "as its pawn".
According to the Raj Bhavan, Kumar has been asked to continue as caretaker Chief Minister till the formation of a new government.
The swearing-in is likely to be held in the presence of BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda, who is expected to arrive here in the afternoon. 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.
