Bihar: High drama, hectic parleys: Nitish at it again; BJP says doors open

What's in Nitish's mind? No one knows it yet. 

The ruling Mahagathbandhan in Bihar appears to be shaky, with multiple reports saying Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is on his way out and might join the BJP-led NDA ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Amid hectic political parleys and drama, though Nitish said he is still with the state's ruling alliance, political grapevine suggests something is brewing. Some reports say Nitish is bidding time and by Sunday, he might join the NDA. Adding fuel to the fire, Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD skipped the Republic Day function at Raj Bhavan, where Kumar was seen exchanging pleasantries with other visitors, including BJP’s Vijay Kumar Sinha, who is also the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly.

Amid the turmoil in Bihar's ruling Mahagathbandhan, the opposition BJP has called a meeting of its MPs and MLAs on Saturday apparently to discuss the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. According to BJP state unit chief Samrat Choudhary, the meeting will deliberate on the party's strategy for the general elections, the dates for which are yet to be announced.

Asked about speculations that the BJP is set for another innings with Nitish Kumar's JD(U), Choudhary told reporters, "No such thing has been discussed at our level." The BJP leaders on Friday dropped major hints about Kumar's reported discussions with the party's senior leaders.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said, "No door is closed in politics. The door can be opened if needed." In a separate development, Bihar Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan has called a meeting of party MLAs and former legislators in Purnea at 2pm on Saturday. He also denied reports that the meeting had anything to do with the latest political developments in the state.

"Yes, all Congress MLAs (present and former) and senior party leaders are meeting in Purnea tomorrow to discuss preparations related to 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' of Rahul Gandhi when it enters Bihar on January 29," Khan said.

The yatra is scheduled to enter the state on January 29 and the first public meeting will be held in Kishanganj on the same day. It will be followed by two more rallies on January 30 and 31 in Purnea and Katihar, respectively", Khan said.. 

Mahagathbandhan  on tenterhooks 

The trouble was out in the open when Kumar attended the high tea ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan in Patna on the occasion of the Republic Day but his deputy Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD skipped the function. Kumar was seen exchanging pleasantries with other visitors, including BJP’s Vijay Kumar Sinha, who is also the leader of the opposition in the state assembly.

Emerging from the function, Kumar curtly told reporters that it was for Yadav and other leaders of the RJD, including Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, to comment on why they skipped the function. The only notable attendee from the party was state Education Minister Alok Mehta. Neither Mehta nor any other leader of the RJD commented on the absence of Yadav, who is said to have gone into a huddle with close leaders of the party at his residence to chalk out a strategy to thwart the loss of power in the event of Kumar deciding to call off the alliance. RJD national spokesman and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha, who interacted with journalists, said "there is a lot of confusion which is not in the interest of the people of the state. Only the Chief Minister can put an end to the confusion. We hope he will do so by this evening itself”.

What JD(U) said

When asked about Jha's remarks, JD(U) chief spokesperson in the state, Neeraj Kumar shot back, "Our leader is in the Chief Minister’s residence as the leader of the Mahagathbandhan. There should be no scope for confusion. But if some people still choose to remain in confusion, we cannot help it”.

State JD(U) president Umesh Singh Kushwaha also refuted reports. "All is well in Bihar's ruling Mahagathbandhan and the media speculations are driven by some agenda," Kushwaha told reporters.

He also said, "I met the CM yesterday as well as today. It is a routine affair. There is no truth in the rumours doing the rounds. We also reject the rumours that party MLAs have been asked to rush to Patna".

Kumar had joined hands with RJD, founded by his former arch-rival Lalu Prasad, in August 2022 after he severed ties with the BJP which he accused of having tried to engineer a split in the JD(U).

A Mahagathbandhan leader, who did not wish to be identified, said, "It is not clear if Nitish Kumar will eventually exit the NDA, though there have been a number of issues on which he and his allies strongly disagree. These include his belief that the assembly be dissolved so that assembly elections are held along with the Lok Sabha polls".

"While the JD(U) hopes that early assembly elections will help it perform well, on account of the hike in quotas for deprived castes and other welfare measures, the RJD and other allies are reluctant to take that risk nearly two years ahead of the end of the Vidhan Sabha’s term”, the leader said. Moreover, Kumar has also been voicing his anguish over the way things were unfolding in the INDIA coalition, in which he was not offered the post of convenor until last month when he turned it down.

Kumar has maintained that he has "no personal ambitions" while remaining critical of the "delay" in arriving at a seat-sharing deal.

Meanwhile, the BJP, which had till some time back declared its "doors closed" for Kumar, was keeping its cards close to the chest but dropped enough hints of his possible return to the NDA. BJP's state president Samrat Choudhary, who met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi Thursday evening, said the discussions were around the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The BJP had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls along with JD(U) and late Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP. The coalition won 39 out of the 40 seats in the state. An OBC consolidation, in the event of JD(U) and RJD remaining together, would make Bihar a tough challenge for the saffron party. 

(With agency inputs)