Nitish, Tejashwi Yadav to meet Bihar Governor; breakup from NDA looks imminent

Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar has sought an appointment with Governor Phagu Chauhan amid strong political buzz over a rift within the ruling alliance, as per emerging reports.

Local reports said Nitish is breaking away with NDA. They further said that with Nitish, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will meet the Governor at 4 pm on Tuesday.

Incidentally, parallel meetings of the JD(U) and the opposition RJD are on even as other parties are keenly watching the fast unfolding political developments. The meeting of the RJD legislators is convened by party leader Tejashwi Yadav at his mother Rabri Devis Circular Road bungalow, a stone’s throw from the CM’s Anney Marg residence.

Alliance partner BJP is also holding a meeting at Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishor Prasad’s residence and among those present there include party’s state unit president Sanjay Jaiswal.

Political equation now

The BJP had bagged 74 seats in the election even as its strength improved to 77 in the Assembly after three MLAs from Mueksh Sahni`s Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) joined it. The RJD is presently the largest party in the state with 80 MLAs. The Bihar Assembly has a total strength of 243 MLAs and any party or alliance needs the support of 122 MLAs to form a  government. The Congress has 19 MLAs while the Left parties, also part of the Grand Alliance, have 16 MLAs.

So, if Nitish returns to the RJD-Congress-Left alliance, it will have 160 MLAs (45 of JD(U), 80 of RJD, 19 of Congress and 16 of Left parties) against the majority mark of 122. Additionally, the RJD is also reaching out to the HAM, a BJP ally with four MLAs.

‘Nothing unusual’ 

More than one of the prospective attendees of the JD(U) meeting denied that the party’s ties with the BJP have worsened to an extent to call for a realignment.

“Our party had held many such meetings of MPs and MLAs in the past. We have been told that the current meeting has been called to discuss organisational matters. Never heard about any major crisis in the NDA,” said Ram Nath Thakur, a Rajya Sabha member, low key but known to enjoy proximity to the chief minister by virtue of being the son of late Karpoori Thakur, the latter’s political mentor.

Also read: Souring BJP-JD(U) ties might lead to realignments in Bihar politics

Another confidant of Kumar, Leshi Singh, who is an MLA and a minister in his cabinet, said, “I was away for the last four or five days but I have an idea of how things have been. There does not seem to be any major crisis facing the NDA government. It goes without saying, though, that the party will abide by any decision taken by the chief minister.