Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 9: Senior Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader has sought to end all speculations about the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar being offered another opportunity to desert the NDA and asserted that no such offer would be given from his party to the Janata Dal (United) leader to join hands before the elections to the state Assembly later this year.
With the political temperature rising in Bihar in anticipation of the elections, Mr Yadav on Sunday responded sharply to rumours that his party had reached out to Mr Nitish Kumar to try and get him to switch political camps ahead of the election.
His reaction came during a press meet, in which he was asked about rumours that his party was trying to get Mr Kumar, a former ally, to the Opposition camp that is gearing up for a big fight with the BJP in the state polls later this year. “Who gives you these ideas? why will we welcome him? There is no offer, don’t talk nonsense. No one other than Lalu (Yadav) ji and I are authorised to make offers, and no offer will be made,” he said.
The rumours of behind-the-scenes outreach between JDU and RJD are playing out against the backdrop of Mr Kumar’s history of flip-flops across the political aisle. Once RJD founder Lalu Yadav’s arch-political rival, Mr Kumar tied up with RJD in the 2015 state polls and the alliance scored a thumping win. Two years after the election, Mr Kumar walked out of the alliance and joined hands with the BJP to return as Chief Minister. JDU and BJP fought the 2020 polls in alliance, but Mr Kumar made another flip-flop two years later and returned to the Opposition camp. In 2024, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the JDU chief made his latest switch and returned to the NDA. The BJP backed him as he took the oath for the ninth time.
Mr Kumar’s yet another flip-flop was very much in the air despite his repeated assertion that the 2024 was the last time he changed sides and would stay in the NDA rest of his political life. The speculations gained further strength with Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav’s recent statement that the doors of his party was open for all and even gave an unsolicited caution to Mr Kumar that the BJP would dump him and his party after the elections once it was able to stand on its own.
The last few days have seen stormy exchanges between Mr Kumar and Mr Tejashwi Yadav. During the debate on Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s address, Mr Kumar thundered at the RJD leader and said he made Lalu Yadav the Chief Minister. “Even the people of Lalu Yadav’s caste (Yadav) had refused to make him CM, but I supported him. I made your father (Lalu Yadav) CM,” he said.
Mr Kumar, a key face of Janata Dal politics in 1990s, was Mr Yadav’s brother-in-arms before the two parted ways and Nitish Kumar charted his political journey, eventually becoming Chief Minister in 2000. Targeting Mr Yadav, once his deputy, Mr Kumar said he was a child who did not know anything.
In a sharp response, Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly said it was RJD’s support that made Mr Kumar Chief Minister twice and saved his party. “Yesterday, Nitish Kumar said in the Assembly that he made Lalu Yadav the Chief Minister. Forget about what Nitish Kumar says… But Nitish Kumar should remember that even before him, my father had already been elected as an MLA twice and once as an MP. Forget about Lalu Yadav, Lalu Ji has made many Prime Ministers. I made him (Nitish Kumar) CM twice and saved his party…,” said Mr Yadav.
