If Nitish crosses over, it would be the fourth time he has switched sides
After Nitish Kumar’s resignation as chief minister, ending the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ rule in Bihar, Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Sunday said the Bharatiya Janata Party will not allow Jungle Raj to return, indicating on the formation of a Nationalist Democratic Alliance. -led government in the state.
The senior BJP leader thanked Nitish Kumar for breaking ties with Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal.
“I thank Nitish Kumar for his resignation. I just want to say to the people of Bihar that the BJP continued to fight Jungle Raj till 2005. We kept making sacrifices and even at that time, based on our organization, we projected Nitish Kumar for the post of Chief Minister only to get freedom from Jungle Raj. I was scared because of the way Lalu Yadav was pressuring Nitish Kumar. If this had not happened, Jungle Raj would have come to Bihar again. Now BJP will not allow Jungle Raj to do that back,” Singh said while talking to reporters here.
Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) National President Nitish Kumar handed over his resignation to Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Raj Bhavan in Patna on Sunday.
Nitish appealed to the Governor of Raj Bhavan and told him, “We have decided to sever ties with the Mahagathbandhan in the state”.
The development comes amid deafening buzz that Nitish would rejoin the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), ending ‘Mahagathbandhan’ rule in the state.
The rapidly changing political events in the state were triggered by a social media post by former CM and RJD chief Lalu Yadav’s daughter Rohini Acharya in which she took a swipe at the JD(U) and said that while the ‘socialist party’ styles itself as progressive, ideology shifts with the changing wind patterns.
If Nitish crosses over, it would be the fourth time he has switched sides.
In the 243 Bihar Assembly, the RJD has 79 MLAs; followed by the BJP at 78; JD(U) at 45, Congress at 19, the CPI (ML) at 12, CPI(M) and CPI at 2 each, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) at 4. Two more seats are with the AIMIM and one independent .
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First print: January 28, 2024 | 12:37 pm IST