Will Nitish Kumar Return to NDA Amid Rift in INDIA Bloc?

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 26th Jan.  BJP leaders on Thursday held meetings to discuss the possibility of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar rejoining the party. This comes as Kumar’s differences with INDIA bloc allies deepen.

Bihar BJP president Samrat Choudhary and other senior leaders from the state, including Sushil Modi and Vijay Kumar Sinha, met with top BJP officials, including Amit Shah, in the national capital. There is speculation that they are open to welcoming Kumar back into the party.

Choudhary, however, claimed that the meeting was about the BJP’s preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

A BJP ally suggested that the grand alliance government in Bihar is on the verge of collapse, and the BJP-led NDA will support Kumar once he breaks ties with the RJD, the largest party in the INDIA bloc in the state.

JD(U) spokesperson K C Tyagi stated that his party considers itself a key player in the INDIA bloc and called on Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to address the concerns raised by partners like Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party.

Meanwhile, a BJP leader familiar with Bihar’s politics stated that the party will prioritize its future political goals over past conflicts. However, any decision will ultimately be made by the party’s top officials.

The BJP has been showing signs of warming up to Kumar, who has frequently switched alliances between the saffron party and the RJD-Congress-Left camp while remaining in power. Recently, BJP leaders have toned down their criticism of him and even praised him at times.
In a recent interview, Amit Shah himself seemed more open to the possibility of Kumar’s return. He stated that the party will consider such a proposal if it is ever made. Previously, Shah had firmly stated that the doors were closed for Kumar’s return to the ruling alliance.

Kumar, who is Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister, is unhappy with the INDIA bloc for not giving him a position in the alliance that matches his stature. He also supports holding early assembly elections alongside the Lok Sabha elections, a suggestion that has not been well-received by the RJD.

There have been tensions between JD(U) and RJD leaders, with Kumar’s supporters fearing that their ally is trying to undermine him in both governance and politics.

Kumar’s decision to take over as party president, cutting short Lalan Singh’s tenure, was seen as a move to assert control over the organization. Some JD(U) leaders had suggested that the chief minister’s confidant had become too close to the RJD or was pursuing his own agenda.

The RJD has made some conciliatory gestures by agreeing to demote Education Minister Chandra Shekhar to a less significant portfolio. Rohini Acharya, Lalu Prasad’s daughter and an RJD member, deleted her posts criticizing Kumar after they were published. The Bihar BJP accused her of insulting Kumar and demanded an apology.

The INDIA bloc has been plagued by incoherence and distrust, with Mamata Banerjee and Bhagwant Singh Mann announcing that their parties, TMC and AAP respectively, will contest the Lok Sabha elections independently. This disconnect among INDIA parties in Bihar benefits the BJP, as the same alliance suffered a major defeat in the 2015 assembly polls before Kumar rejoined the BJP-led NDA and helped them win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

As the elections approach, it will be interesting to see how Nitish Kumar, who is seen as a diminished political force by his critics, navigates this round of political gamesmanship.