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After Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ended his 18-month ruling alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress on Sunday and rejoined the NDA, DMK leader RS Bharathi said that there was no guarantee that he would continue in the NDA alliance till the Lok Sabha polls.
DMK leader RS Bharathi said, "What is the guarantee that Nitish will continue as part of NDA alliance till the Parliament elections? Let us wait and see." Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam said that Nitish Kumar was like the founder of the INDIA alliance and it was very sad that he left the alliance. "Nitish Kumar has left the INDIA alliance, it is very sad for us. He was like the captain of the alliance. We need to think about why this situation happened. There should be action against those leaders who were coordinating the alliance. They must have been inefficient to brief Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge," he added. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami congratulated Nitish Kumar on taking oath as Chief Minister, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha on taking oath as Deputy Chief Ministers on Sunday. Taking to 'X' CM Dhami said, "Certainly, under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the NDA government will ensure all-round development of Bihar." After a dramatic volte-face, ditching the Mahagathbandhan and the opposition bloc INDIA and forming a new government with the BJP, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar along with eight ministers-- three each from the BJP and the JD-U, one from HAM and one independent--took oath on Sunday. Among the ministers sworn in were Samrat Chowdhary, Vijay Kumar Sinha and Prem Kumar (BJP), Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Vijay Kumar Chowdhary and Shrawan Kumar (JD-U), Santosh Suman (HAM-S and son of Jitan Ram Manjhi) and Sumit Kumar Singh (Independent). Kumar was sworn in by Bihar Governor Rajendra Arlekar at Raj Bhavan in the presence of senior leaders including BJP national president JP Nadda, hours after he resigned from the post. Meanwhile, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha were among those who took the oath of office. The two are named Deputy Chief Ministers. 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. In the Bihar Assembly of 243, the RJD has 79 MLAs; followed by the BJP's 78; the JD(U)'s 45' the Congress's 19, the CPI (M-L)'s 12, two each of the CPI(M) and CPI, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular)'s four seats, and the AIMIM's one, plus one Independent legislator. 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 2000, Nitish became CM for the first time after campaigning against RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's 'Jungle Raaj'. Till now, he has been Bihar's CM on eight occasions. In 2013, Nitish broke ranks with the NDA after a 17-year alliance following the announcement of Narendra Modi as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate. He expressed his displeasure to the BJP over Modi's selection as the PM face, and after the BJP decided to not change its decision, Kumar left the alliance. In 2017, Nitish forged a grand alliance with the RJD and Congress and returned as chief minister in 2015. He walked out of the grand alliance in 2017, accusing the RJD of corruption and choking governance in the state. 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)
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