By Pm Ist,Sagar Malik
Copyright dnaindia
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has asserted that he will remain in the BJP-led NDA alliance. Kumar, 74, is currently eyeing a fifth consecutive term as Bihar CM. Kumar, the JD(U) supremo, reiterated his stand while addressing a rally in Bihar’s Purnea in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kumar, who is the longest-serving chief minister of Bihar, has switched political partners numerous times in his political career and especially over the last decade.
What did Nitish Kumar say on NDA allegiance?
Kumar said at Monday’s rally: “It was the JD(U)-BJP combine which had formed a government in Bihar, for the first time, in November, 2005. For one or two times, I went to the other side, upon prodding of some of my own party colleagues, one of whom is sitting here,” referring to former party chief and Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh. “But, that is a thing of the past. I could never be comfortable with those people. They always indulged in mischief when we shared power…I am now back. And, I will not go anywhere henceforth,” he added.
How often has Kumar switched political allies?
Kumar had been an ally of the BJP since the 1990s. But after the elevation of PM Modi to the current post and the 2014 Lok Sabha drubbing of Kumar’s party, the latter partnered with archrival Lalu Prasad Yadav, the RJD president. Kumar dumped Yadav in 2017 to return to the NDA. That alliance continued until 2022 when Kumar joined hands with the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan (or the grand alliance), vowing to defeat the BJP and accusing its former ally of having tried to split the JD(U). However, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections last year, Kumar returned to the NDA, abandoning the Congress-led INDIA bloc that he had helped form by bringing together parties that were opposed to the BJP.
