"JDU to witness major split after January 15," claims Chirag Paswan

Speaking to ANI, Paswan came down heavily on Nitish Kumar and said that a day will come when there will be no one left to take the name of JDU.

"Soon after Kharmas (January 15), there will be a major split in Janata Dal United. He (Nitish) has not built any other leadership in his party. Anyway, these days he is looking for someone else. He is busy promoting another leader (Tejashwi Yadav) of the party. He calls him that and says after me he is the successor...there will be no one left to take the name of JDU," Paswan said while speaking to ANI.

Further, terming the Bihar CM's 'Bhim Sansad', a gathering of Scheduled Caste (SC) communities organised by his party, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), 'vote bank politics', Paswan said that Kumar has 'anti-Dalit' thinking.

"It is vote bank politics...Chief Minister's (Nitish Kumar) thinking has always been against the scheduled caste...Recently, the language he used for the former chief minister (Jitan Ram Manjhi) who himself belongs to the Dalit community in the Bihar assembly, all these things prove his thinking. Even today, the scheduled caste in Bihar is deprived of their rights and the chief minister is responsible for it..." he said.

Notably, on October 9, Nitish Kumar lost his cool in the Bihar Assembly and lashed out at Manjhi after the latter raised doubts over the government's caste survey. He said it was 'stupidity' on his part that prompted him to let Manjhi occupy the highest seat of power in the state.

"He keeps saying that he, too, was a chief minister. He became chief minister as a result of my stupidity. Does he have any sense? (ye bolta hai ki hum Mukhyamantri the. Meri moorkhta ki vajah se mukhyamantri bana. Isko koi sense hai)", Kumar screamed, leading to a commotion in the House.

Manjhi, who is now an ally of the BJP-led NDA at the Centre, was earlier with the Janata Dal (United) and was made the 23rd chief minister of the state after Nitish had stepped down taking responsibility for his party's debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Manjhi occupied the CM seat from May 20, 2014 to February 20, 2015.

Apparently impressed by the massive 'Bhim Sansad' gathering of Scheduled Caste (SC) communities organised by his party, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said senior BJP leaders in Delhi should "take lessons" from the event.

As the state government's continuous demand to give special status to Bihar is putting pressure on the Central Government, Chirag Paswan questioned Nitish Kumar asking why he did not do so when his party was in alliance with the BJP, the ruling party at Centre.

"Why he didn't put up this demand on the front during 2017-22 when he was an ally of BJP? It was a golden chance for him and the state. Now, when elections are around the corner, he is placing his demand. We aren't fools. The people of the state understand every gimmick played by him," Paswan added.

Notably, in August 2022, Nitish Kumar snapped his ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD to form a 'Mahagathbandhan' government. (ANI)