JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar took oath as the chief minister of Bihar for the eighth time on Wednesday after a dramatic and sudden exit from his alliance with the National Democratic Alliance in the state. Kumar met the Bihar governor to stake claim along with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, who has now been sworn in as a deputy chief minister in the state.
Kumar's decision to break his alliance with long-time ally BJP was sudden and happened after a meeting with the party MLAs.
Also read: Old Photo Of 'Nitish Sabke Hai' Poster Outside JD(U) Office Shared As Recent
Why did Nitish Break alliance with BJP?
While Kumar had not publicly spoken about why he decided to break up with the NDA, BJP has criticised Kumar saying he disrespected the mandate of the people. To this allegation, Kumar said, "I didn't want to be CM after the 2020 (Assembly poll) results, but I was put under pressure. You see what happened."
Kumar, in his comments after taking oath, implied that the MLAs in his party were not treated the way they deserved. "Ask people in the party what they have been reduced to... "How many seats did we win in 2015! And look at what we have been reduced to," NDTV quoted him as saying.
Also read: Nitish Kumar's History Of Jumping Ships And Forging New Alliances
Kumar also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying, "I am not an aspirant for the PM's post. The question is will the person who came in 2014 win in 2024."
It was also reported that Kumar was unhappy with the BJP because he felt that it was trying to break the JD(U) and would repeat what happened in Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena. Kumar did not make a public statement about this, but BJP MP and former deputy chief minister to Kumar, Sushil Kumar Modi, addressed the issue denying these reports. "They are saying that attempts were being made to break JD(U), example of Shiv Sena is being given. Shiv Sena was not our ally, it was the ruling party there. You (JDU) were our ally. We have never broken any of our allies," Modi told the media.
"BJP has never betrayed anyone. We made Nitish Kumar the Bihar CM, five times. RJD made him the CM twice, we did that five times. We had a relation for 17 years. But you severed ties (with us) twice," Modi said.
Political war of words
The BJP also criticised Kumar by highlighting his history of flip-flops throughout his political career. Nityanand Rai, BJP MP from Bihar and MoS of Ministry of Home Affairs, told the media, "Going with RJD and Tejashwi Yadav is a betrayal to the people and mandate of Bihar, to the ideologies of Lohia-JP-George. Going with Congress-RJD proves that Nitish Kumar does everything just to be in power."
BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said that voters will respond to Kumar's actions in the Lok Sabha and Assembly Elections. He said, "Nitish Kumar has been a non-Congress leader. His politics is around non-Congressism. Is that finished? Compromise with corruption and non-Congressism. Nitish Kumar sided with corruption amd Congressism. Congratulations. People will give a reply in LS and Assembly polls."
The RJP and JD(U) have responded to BJP's barbs saying the BJP did not respect democratic values.
"It's not only a government that'll take oath, it's 'ghar wapasi' (homecoming) of 2017-2020 mandate. It's very important, especially in an era where BJP has decided to mangle democratic values — that only they would remain. Bihar gave a message. It's an oath of people of Bihar," RJD RS MP Manoj Jha told ANI.
JD(U)'s Upendra Kushwaha said that the BJP was pushing India into conservatism. He said that this decision would not only be beneficial for Bihar but also for the country.
Former chief minister of Bihar Rabri Devi and mother of Tejashwi Yadav told the media, "I am happy for the people of Bihar."