Aishwariya Dhal 
Hours after withdrawing from the BJP to reunite with RJD, Bihar’s Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar said today that the new ‘Mahagathbandhan’ or Grand Alliance has seven partners, giving them the numbers to take power.
The oath ceremony for the JDU-RJD led ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (Grand Alliance) in Bihar will be held tomorrow at 2pm.
“All 164 of his MLAs have signed letters of support. The governor will decide when the new government will be formed,” he said. When asked why he left the BJP-led NDA, he said that his party unanimously wanted to leave this alliance. Voices within the party could no longer be ignored. He never condoned corruption from the beginning. Further he stated that his party always want brotherhood in the society.
Talking about the revived alliance, he said, “Now and in the future, we are together.”
RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav will be set as Nitish Kumar’s deputy again. He was with Nitish Kumar when he spoke to reporters after meeting the governor. “The uncle and nephew regime is back,” Yadav said, calling Nitish Kumar “the most experienced commercial in the country.”
Nitish Kumar spoke first, limiting his remarks to “the basics” and then pointing to Tejashwi Yadav on the left. A brisk Mr. Yadav then launched an attack on the BJP. “The BJP only knows how to divide people at the communal level,” Yadav said. “Investigate relationships with allies. Try to end them. Look at Punjab or Maharashtra. They also tried it in Bihar. ”
“We all want the BJP agenda not to be implemented in Bihar,” he added, glancing at Nitish Kumar.
Tejashwi accused BJP leader JP Nadda for speaking of “ending regional political parties” during a recent visit to Patna. “How can he say such a thing in Bihar, the homeland of democracy? He wants to end all opposition. That means ending democracy. ” The RJD leader also mentioned rising prices, unemployment and Chinese aggression at the border. “The BJP central government have failed on all fronts.”
For Nitish Kumar, this was his second meeting with the governor in a matter of hours and he had handed in his resignation earlier.He then went to his RJD leader and they went to the governor together.
Further, the BJP has accused Nitish Kumar of “betraying the national mission” by switching partners in the mid-term.
But it is not unexpected for Nitish Kumar, who has a track record of ideological flexibility. Today’s reorganization is evidenced in gestures and silence after Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav developed ideas over the past few months. This morning, Nitish Kumar announced to his MLA his decision to leave the BJP after accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political party of trying to split his JDU. Around the same time, Tejashwi Yadav met with his MLA and formally agreed to work with Nitish Kumar to return to power.
Nitish Kumar submitted his resignation to the governor by 4 pm.
The numbers stack up well as RJD is the largest party in Vidhan Sabha with his 79 MLAs. Adding that to his 45 seats in the JDU, and he’ll easily reach 122 of the 243 seats in the House of Representatives. The alliance also includes 19 seats of Congress in the parliamentand some other parties.
The BJP has 77 MLAs, making it the largest opposition party. Despite winning more of his MLA than JDU, BJP was giving the top spot to Nitish Kumar. RJD has done the same, showing that his personality remains an important factor in state politics.
For Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav, this is just the latest twist in their decade-long relationship. Before, they have fought and reconciled many times. Both emerged as young leaders of the Jayaprakash Narayan movement in the 1970s. They first split in the 1990s when Nitish Kumar decided to partner with BJP. Until 2015, Nitish Kumar was in partnership with his BJP.
In 2013 Narendra Modi became BJP’s principal for the 2014 Lok Sabha Contest. When it became clear that he would emerge as leader, it was a conflicting pact. Nitish Kumar’s biggest worry was Narendra’s Modi past, mainly the 2002 Gujarat riots. The 2015 elections were won jointly by the JDU, RJD and Congress. They claimed it was the triumph of worldly principles. Tejashwi Yadav becomes Deputy Prime Minister. His brother Tej Pratap Yadav is also a minister. However, Nitish Kumar said that in 2017 he rejoined BJP. The JDU and BJP won the 2020 elections in solidarity. Then, today on 9th August 2022, Nitish’s JDU tied alliance with RJD claiming it to be ‘Mahagathbandhan 2.0.’
