The BJP, which contacted Nitish Kumar twice on Monday, said it would await his decision.
Patna:
Bihar Minister Nitish Kumar will hold a meeting with his party’s MLA today as speculation about his split from the BJP grows. Congress and RJD have indicated that they are ready for Grand Alliance 2.0 if he removes the BJP.
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Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) meeting starts at 11am. Officially, it is meant to make a call on the road ahead. Mr. Kumar has made clear his growing anger at the BJP over many issues. This morning, sources from both the BJP and JDU said the ruling coalition had no chance of survival.
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The RJD MLA and its leaders will also meet at 11 a.m. at the Patna residence of party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. Cell phones of all MLAs are being kept outside the meeting room. The MLA of the Left parties also went to Lalu Yadav’s house for the big meeting.
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The BJP, which contacted Mr Kumar twice on Monday, said it would await his decision. Sources say the party’s chief strategist, Amit Shah, has been in contact with Mr Kumar and had a phone conversation with him. Key leaders of the party’s state unit met Mr. Kumar on Monday.
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Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD of Lalu Yadav, currently led by Tejashwi Yadav, and Parliament has also scheduled a meeting for today. Both sides have said they are open to an alliance if Mr. Kumar abandons the BJP. Smaller parties Hindustan Awam Morcha and CPIML have also offered unconditional support to Nitish Kumar.
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Mr Kumar’s ties against the BJP have been piling up since the 2019 general election, when his party was offered just a single seat in the Coalition cabinet. Before the state election, the BJP supporting Chirag Paswan split the vote, his party said, enabling the BJP to become the eldest brother in the state.
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The Allies have been in contention mode ever since – issues ranging from BJP leaders humiliating the Minister to Mr Kumar’s attempt to remove the Speaker, to the government’s humiliation. failed to suppress the protesters against the Agnipath plan for the armed forces.
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In the latest case, Mr. Kumar – sources close to said – feels that BJP’s Amit Shah is trying to remotely control the state government by installing ministers close to him. The leaders of the BJP, JD(U) have allegedly even ordered who should get the party’s sole berth in the Coalition cabinet – RCP Singh – whom Mr Kumar feels is instrumental by Amit Shah.
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What led to the crisis was the destruction of the Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra – a plan that was publicly attributed to the BJP by Mr. Thackeray’s challenger Eknath Shinde. Sources indicate that Mr. Kumar is concerned about a series of similar events in Bihar. JD (U) condemned the statement of BJP Director JP Nadda that “Only the BJP, the parties in the region will disappear”.
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RCP Singh was not recommended again in the upper house, Rajya Sabha, forcing him to resign from the Union cabinet. Over the weekend, Mr Singh left JD(U) after the party accused him of corruption, claiming that Mr Kumar was jealous of Prime Minister Modi, but he was getting nowhere.
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According to sources, the BJP leaders’ public criticism of Nitish Kumar has weakened the relationship between the two allies. But the national party’s support for RCP Singh and the release of the terms was a major blow to the coalition. Dissatisfied with the BJP since Narendra Modi was announced as the NDA’s Prime Minister candidate in 2013, Nitish Kumar allied with the RJD and Parliament two years later. But he ended it in 2017 citing corruption allegations against Tejashwi Yadav, his deputy at the time, and once again collaborating with the BJP.
