"Definitely Nitish Kumar cheated": Congress leader TS Singh Deo

Responding to Nitish Kumar's decision to realign with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Deo said, "Definitely he (Nitish Kumar) cheated. If he aimed to remain the chief minister and work with the BJP, he could have done it earlier also, the numbers were there earlier too."

He emphasized the apparent contradiction between Kumar's professed ideological differences with the BJP and his swift return to the NDA fold.

"His motive for coming here was that he does not agree with the BJP ideologically and wants to give an alternative to the public which works in public interest but it seems that his interests are paramount," the Congress leader said.

Meanwhile, Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar Chief Minister for the ninth time at Raj Bhavan on Sunday after snapping ties with "Mahagathbandhan".

After days of speculation, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar resigned as the Chief Minister of Bihar on Sunday, his second volte face in less than 18 months.

Snapping ties with the RJD and Congress, Nitish formed the government with BJP's support.

Nitish Kumar cited the state of affairs being "not right" under the Mahagathbandhan alliance as his reason for quitting. He said that he has been receiving suggestions from everywhere, including his party workers, and he listened to all of them to come to this decision.

Despite turbulence in state politics, Nitish, whether with the Mahagathbandhan or the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has managed to retain the CM's chair and ensured that his party has not split over his repeated flip-flops.

Nitish Kumar, after parting ways with the BJP in 2022, took on the initiative of uniting all opposition forces to jointly take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling party in the national election.

In 2022, Nitish Kumar snapped ties with the BJP once again, alleging the BJP was conspiring against him and trying to influence JD-U MLAs to rebel against him. (ANI)