Political crisis in Bihar: CM Nitish Kumar to convene JD-U lawmakers on Saturday; Bihar BJP calls meet on 27 Jan 28
Nitish Kumar met his trusted leaders such as Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Lalan Singh, Ashok Chaudhary, Bijendra Gupta and Sanjay Jha, among others, at his residence.
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a high-level meeting with top ministers and MLAs at his residence after returning from the event held at the Raj Bhavan on Friday. Moreover, the Bihar CM has also called for a meeting of all JD-U MLAs at his residence on Saturday. Amid the political crisis, speculation is rife that Nitish Kumar will soon be sworn in as Chief Minister of Bihar for a seventh term as part of the BJP-led NDA.
The BJP will get two deputy CM posts for backing Nitish Kumar as happened after the 2020 Assembly elections. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar formulates a strategy to form a government with the BJP and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) in Bihar , the report said.
CM Nitish Kumar meets top leaders of the party
Nitish Kumar's trusted leaders such as Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Lalan Singh, Ashok Chaudhary, Bijendra Gupta and Sanjay Jha, among others, were present during the meeting at the CM's residence on Friday evening. Meanwhile, the CMO has asked all JD-U MLAs to reach Patna on Friday evening. Nitish Kumar is expected to announce his resignation to them and also clarify why he took this step.
After the meeting, Nitish Kumar will officially submit his resignation to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. He will also claim to form the government with the support of the BJP and HAM. At present, JD-U has 45 MLAs, BJP 76 and HAM 4, a total of 125 MLAs – three more than 122 – the magic numbers needed to form the government.
JD-U, BJP and RJD call for meetings
It will be interesting if a few MLAs don't show up for Saturday's meeting as that could make life difficult for both Nitish Kumar and the NDA. Besides JD-U, the BJP and the RJD also convened meetings of their MLAs on Saturday. RJD supremo Lalu Prasad is closely monitoring the situation. Currently, RJD has 79 MLAs, Congress 19 and Left Party 12.
If Nitish switches sides, it will be the fourth time he has done so in just over a decade.
Nitish's shift would deal a major blow to the ruling Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar as well as the opposition INDIA bloc at the national level that was formed to take on the BJP-led Center in the Lok 2024 Sabha polls.
Bihar CM's political reversals
Notably, Nitish Kumar, after parting ways with the BJP in 2022, took the initiative to coordinate all opposition forces to jointly take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling party in the national elections. He hosted the first meeting of opposition parties in Patna, and it was widely believed that he would eventually become the chairman of the coalition.
However, in a brief response to media queries, RJD MP Manoj Jha said the Bihar chief minister should “clear the confusion” by evening. Manoj Jha also said that the RJD is ready to continue the alliance and that it has never played such games.
“We can only ask Nitish Kumar to clear up the confusion tonight. This confusion about the alliance, which affects people's normal lives, is very obvious from our side. This confusion that arises from media reports also confuses us. You will not see any comments from us. Therefore, I will request him to clarify the confusion and 'idhar-udhar'. The Prime Minister will also keep an eye on media reports. RJD has never done this khela (game),” he said.
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's 12 (ML), two each from the CPI( M) and CPI, the four seats of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (secular), and those of the AIMIM, plus one independent legislator.
(With input from agencies)