Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may re-join the NDA by Monday

PATNA: BJP is set to use the 2020 model of the JD(U) patriarch remaining chief minister with two saffron party deputies to re-enter the Nitish Kumar cabinet via the political revolving door in Bihar by Monday.

A new administration may be formed the same evening or on Monday when JD(U) MLAs and MPs convene at CM’s home on Sunday.
Former deputy chief minister and BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi said, “In politics, doors are never closed, even with Nitish Kumar and JD(U).”
The decision will be made by our central leadership. The state unit follows through on its ruling.”
Congress, the BJP, and the RJD have all scheduled legislative party meetings for this Saturday. RJD spokesman Manoj Jha has asked Nitish to clarify his position on the “prevailing confusion” however. Neeraj Kumar, a spokesman for JD(U), shot back, saying that Nitish always plays politics with the upper hand. It is his issue if someone gets confused. We understand.”
Every attention is on Bihar Speaker, who hails from RJD Lalu.
The Grand Alliance government’s downfall counted down to the lightning-fast political happenings that followed RJD president Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya’s post on X on Thursday, which made clear reference to Nitish often switching sides. The absence of Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy chief minister and son of Lalu, from the governor’s high tea at Raj Bhavan on Republic Day was evident from the leaders of JD(U) and BJP, as well as from their body language. In a clear indication of how things are going, JD(U) minister Ashok Kumar Choudhary took Tejashwi’s nameplate off the chair next to Nitish and took up residence in it.
When asked about Tejashwi’s absence from the high tea, Nitish said, “Unhi se puchiye jo nahi aaye (ask the person who has not come).”
Sonia Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge attempted to contact Nitish on Thursday but were unable to do so, according to reports. It is said that despite the Congress brass’s best efforts, Nitish was unavailable for a conversation.
Nitish took the effort to get the opposing INDIA group together, but they were unable to identify him as their convener. Nitish dismissed the idea when his name came up, saying that “it was too late”.
With the situation shifting, everyone is now closely monitoring Lalu since the assembly speaker is Awadh Bihari Choudhary of the RJD. “You cannot dismiss Lalu’s political manoeuvring skills,” a BJP leader told TOI. The speaker has enormous authority, therefore the change in government would take some time to manifest itself if Lalu is successful in splitting off a few JD(U) and NDA MLAs (of Manjhi’s party) to establish a new group.”
The NDA with Nitish would have 128 MLAs (BJ, JDU 45, HAMS 4 and Independent 1), whereas the Grand Alliance sans JD(U) has 115 MLAs, comprising RJD (79), Congress (19), Left (16), and AIMIM (1). 122 votes is the majority in the 243-member legislature.
The Union minister Nityanand Rai visited HAM(S) founder Jitan Ram Manjhi on Thursday and RLJD president Upendra Kushwaha on Friday as part of the BJP’s outreach to allies. After arriving in Delhi, LJP (RV) head Chirag Paswan said that the BJP and LJP will jointly make the ultimate choice and that whatever transpired would be best for Bihar. Chirag and Kushwaha have spoken out against Nitish.
A JD(U) representative told TOI that although his party desired concurrent elections for the Bihar assembly and the Lok Sabha, the BJP did not share this view. In exchange for preserving Nitish as Bihar’s chief minister, he said, the BJP could choose to lower the JD(U)’s 17 Lok Sabha seats. Chirag, his uncle and competitor Pashupati Kumar Paras, Manjhi’s HAM(S), and Kushwaha must share seats with the BJP, although it will not run for less than the 17 seats it won in the 2019 election.
“If JD(U) and BJP work together, they will both win. The BJP is willing to make concessions because PM Narendra Modi views Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats as vital. Nitish is prepared to join the NDA in order to keep JD(U)’s Lok Sabha numbers high, even though he is aware of the excitement generated by the opening of the Ram temple. Since the BJP does not yet have a chief minister in Bihar, it is also a safe bet, a source informed TOI.
Nitish moved bureaucrats late at night, including a few of DMs.